Canon Law
The legal system of the Christian church, the oldest continuously operating law in the West
Overview
Canon law grew from church councils and papal rulings into a complete legal system, systematized in the Decretum of Gratian around 1140 and codified in 1917 and again in 1983 for the Roman rite. It runs its own courts, procedures, and appeals, governing clergy, sacraments, and church property, and borrowed heavily from Roman law while returning the gift of structured legal education to Europe. Its influence on Western marriage and inheritance law is profound, and it operates today for well over a billion church members.
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