(H. De.)

CANON LAW. Canon law, _jus canonicum_, is the sum of the laws which
regulate the ecclesiastical body; for this reason it is also called
ecclesiastical law, _jus ecclesiasticum_. It is also referred to under
the name of _canones, sacri canones_, a title of great antiquity, for
the [Greek: kanones], _regulae_, were very early distinguished from the
secular laws, the [Greek: nomoi], _leges_.

Word "canon." Different meanings.

The word [Greek: kanon], canon, has been employed in ecclesiastical
literature in several different senses (see CANON above). The
disciplinary decisions of the council of Nicaea, for example (can. 1, 2,
&c.), employ it in the sense of an established rule, ecclesiastical in
its origin and in its object. But the expression is most frequently used
to designate disciplinary laws, in which case canons are distinguished
from dogmatic definitions. With regard to form, the decisions of
councils, even when dogmatic, are called canons; thus the definitions of
the council of Trent or of the Vatican, which generally begin with the
words "_Si quis dixerit_," and end with the anathema, are canons; while
the long chapters, even when dealing with matters of discipline, retain
the name of chapters or decrees. Similarly, it has become customary to
give the name of canons to the texts inserted in certain canonical
compilations such as the _Decretum_ of Gratian, while the name of
chapters is given to the analogous quotations from the Books of the
Decretals. It is merely a question of words and of usage. As to the
expression _jus canonicum_, it implies the systematic codification of
ecclesiastical legislation, and had no existence previous to the labours
which resulted in the _Corpus juris canonici_.

Divisions.

Canon law is divided into public law and private law; the former is
concerned with the constitution of the Church, and, consequently, with
the relations between her and other bodies, religious and civil; the
latter has as its object the internal discipline of the ecclesiastical
body and its members. This division, which has been found convenient for
the study of canon law, has no precedent in the collections of texts.
With regard to the texts now in force, the name of _jus antiquum_,
ancient law, has been given to the laws previous to the _Corpus juris
canonici_; the legislation of this _Corpus_ has been called _jus novum_,
new law; and finally, the name of recent law, _jus novissi