Dr. Edward N. Peters
The complete textual history of the 1983 Code of Canon Law, with line-by-line correlations formatted for rapid identification in each successive version of the law. Cross-referenced to coetus reports in Commiunicationes and to the Plenaria of 1981.
The appendices identify the outcome of every numbered norm during the revision process.
Text in Latin, with introduction and instructions for use in six modern languages (including English).
From the Foreword
The correct understanding and right application of the canons of Church discipline depend upon a knowledge of the mind of the Legislator. The rules of canonical interpretation or hermeneutics require a diligent study of the evolution of the text of the law, taking care to understand the precise meaning of terms in the context from which they have been drawn to articulate the Church’s discipline. [ . . . ]
It is important that the pastors of the Church, who are responsible for the implementation of Church discipline, and the students of Canon Law who assist the pastors have at hand the just-mentioned sources which uncover for them the mind of the Legislator. Otherwise, Church discipline will not be able to achieve its most noble end, and the application of Church discipline, abstracted from the mind of the Legislator, will easily erode, rather than build up, good order in the Church. Dr. Edward N. Peters, a devoted and highly qualified student of Canon Law, has provided, in Incrementa in Progressu 1983 Codicis Iuris Canonici, an invaluable tool in knowing the mind of the Legislator of the 1983 Code. His thorough study of the work of writing the 1983 Code has provided for us a reliable history of the text of the Code. His work makes it possible for those responsible for the implementation of Church discipline to know the mind of the Legislator and to follow it obediently. [ . . . ]
~Archbishop Raymond L. Burke
