22 of 24 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
I Love Q&As and this is a great one!, November 5, 2004
This review is from: Surprised By Canon Law: 150 Questions Laypeople Ask About Canon Law (Paperback)
Usually you need true inspiration to read a book with the word Law in the title. Something like a gun to your head maybe. But that is not the case here. No problem at all reading this. Up front, let me confess that I truly love Q&As. They make me feel so smart on those few occasions when I already knew the answer they tell me. Along the way, you can usually learn a lot. This book is a treasure trove for the learning along the way. Can your child be baptized at home? Do I need an imprimatur for that new novel I wrote? Is my parish pastor supposed to be taking all of those vacations? The list goes on and on. These questions are truly informative for anyone with any interest in the Catholic Faith. The Questions are divided in a way that makes total sense, but I just kept picking it up whenever I saw it on the table, and randomly read where the pages opened. I was never disappointed. Can you really have an enjoyable, even fun, law book? A religious one no less? This book answers yes. Do not miss the end where they ask You to send Them more questions, just in case they do another volume. Get those questions in! I want another one!
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14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
An Evangelical Discovers Canon Law, June 16, 2005
This review is from: Surprised By Canon Law: 150 Questions Laypeople Ask About Canon Law (Paperback)
Canonist Pete Vere sheds light not only on the Church's Code of Canon Law, but demonstrates its relevance to individual's lives in this easy-to-read question and answer format book.
The Code of Canon Law was first issued in 1917, and later revised in 1983. Just as civil law governs our public entities, canon law governs how the Church operates.
As a former Evangelical Lutheran, I found the book very interesting. By reading how the Church approaches particular circumstances one can more easily understand why the Church teaches the things that it does and come to appreciate the Church's consistency.
Catholics and non-Catholics will find it helpful for answering such common questions as:
- Is it okay to have one godparent?
- Who may serve as a child's baptismal sponsor?
- What is required of a godparent?
- Who can use the title of Catholic?
- Can the priesthood be taken away from a priest?
- May a layperson give a homily?
- Why doesn't the Church butt out of the government's making of public policy?
With or without knowing it, canon law affects your daily life as a Catholic. Vere explains how. He provides lucid explanations of canon law, and offers responses to situations that lay Catholics often find themselves in. He also informs Catholics of their rights and responsibilities, and explains how canon law extends privileges to non-Catholics, especially with regard to marriage, divorce, annulments and remarriage. In the case of divorced, non-Catholics, for example, the Church must investigate whether the previous marriage was valid.
Those privileges also extend in the case of funerals. Canon 1183, paragraph 3, for example, permits a funeral in the Catholic Church for a baptized non-Catholic whose own minister is not available.
If you'd like to know more about the responsibilities of laypeople, priests, or bishops, you'll find Surprised by Canon Law a fascinating book.
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10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Canon Law for the Man or Woman on the Street, June 28, 2005
This review is from: Surprised By Canon Law: 150 Questions Laypeople Ask About Canon Law (Paperback)
Professor Emeritus, Saint Paul University, Ottawa, Canada
Unfortunately canon law is one of the most misunderstood and consequently least appreciated aspects of the Catholic Church. This is true not only for non-Catholics, but also for many Catholics, including many of the clergy. In a word, many do not like canon law because they do not really know anything about it, or have gross misconceptions.
Pete Vere and Michael Truman have attempted to put to rest such misgivings. I hasten to add that they are most successful in fulfilling their goal. This is not a text book of canon law, nor a reference book for canonists. The authors present 150 questions that ordinary Catholics may have concerning canon law, and then answer them in a clear fashion that is easily understood by the man or the woman on the street or the faithful in the pew. On every page of this short work their love for the Church radiates as they explain in simple language her legislation which reflects that "the salvation of souls, which must always be the supreme law in the Church, is to be kept before one's eyes." (Can. 1752)
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