An overview of the “munus docendi” in the Church

Abstract

The Code of Canon Law of 1983 was elaborated in such a way as to follow a scheme of thought, that is, the very ecclesiology of Second Vatican Council. This disposition highlights the reality of the threefold office, enshrined in the documents of the Council, and offers the mission of announcing the Gospel a special placement by establishing for it a proper book. For this novelty, it urges to discover the consequences of such a proposal. This way, the Legislator presents his will of making concrete in the pastoral life of the Church the ecclesiology that emerges from the said Council. Regarding the Book III, which deals with the teaching function of the Church, we can find the bold determination of transforming a simple title of the previous Code into a true part of the new Code. On its part, the Book III is subdivided in five titles: Title I. The ministry of the Divine Word (chapter I. The Preaching of the Word of God; chapter II. Catechetical instruction); Title II. The missionary action of the Church; Title III. Catholic education (chapter I. Schools; chapter II. Catholic universities and other institutes of higher studies; chapter III. Ecclesiastical universities and faculties); Title IV. Instruments of social communication and books in particular, and V. The profession of faith. This article intends to shortly write about those titles in order to offer a panorama about the teaching function of the Church in the Book III of the current Code of Canon Law.