• + General Norms
  • Ecclesiastical Laws
  • Custom
  • General Decrees and Instructions
  • + Singular Administrative Acts
    • Common Norms
    • Singular Decrees and Precepts
    • Rescripts
    • Privileges
    • Dispensations
  • Statutes and Rules of Order
  • + Physical and Juridic Person
    • The Canonical Condition of Physical Persons
    • Juridical Persons
  • Juridic Acts
  • The Power of Governance
  • + Ecclesiastical Offices
    • + Provision of Ecclesiastical Office
      • Free Conferral
      • Presentation
      • Election
      • Postulation
      • Loss of Ecclesiastical Office
      • Resignation
      • Transfer
      • Removal
      • Privation
  • Prescription
  • Computation of Time
• + The People of God
  • + The Christian Faithful
    • The Obligations and Rights of all the Christian Faithful
    • The Obligations and Rights of the Lay Christian Faithful
    • + Sacred Ministers or Clerics
      • The Formation of Clerics
      • The Enrollment, or Incardination, of Clerics
      • The Obligations and Rights of Clerics
      • Loss of the Clerical State
    • + Personal Prelatures
      • Associations of the Christian Faithful
      • Common Norms
      • Public Associations of the Christian Faithful
      • Private Associations of the Christian Faithful
      • Special Norms for Associations of the Laity
  • + The Hierarchical Constitution of the Church
    • + The Supreme Authority of the Church
      • + The Roman Pontiff and the College of Bishops
        • The Roman Pontiff
        • The College of Bishops
      • The Synod of Bishops
      • The Cardinals of the Holy Roman Church
      • The Roman Curia
      • Legates of the Roman Pontiff
    • + Particular Churches and Their Groupings
      • + Particular Churches and the Authority Established in Them
        • Particular Churches
        • + Bishops
          • Bishops in general
          • Diocesan bishops
          • Coadjutor and auxiliary bishops
        • + The impeded see and the vacant see
          • The impeded see
          • The vacant see
      • + Groupings of Particular Churches
        • Ecclesiastical provinces and regions
        • Metropolitans
        • Particular councils
        • Conferences of bishops
      • + The Internal Ordering of Particular Churches
        • The diocesan synod
        • + The diocesan curia
          • Vicars general and episcopal vicars
          • The chancellor, other notaries, and the archives
          • The finance council and the finance officer
        • The presbyteral council and the college of consultors
        • Chapters of canons
        • The pastoral council
        • Parishes, pastors, and parochial vicars
        • Vicars forane
        • + Rectors of churches and chaplains
          • Rectors of churches
          • Chaplains
  • + Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life
    • + Institutes of Consecrated Life
      • Norms Common to All Institutes of Consecrated Life
      • + Religious Institutes
        • Religious houses and their creation and suppression
        • + The governance of institutes
          • Superiors and councils
          • Chapters
          • Temporal goods and their administration
        • + The admission of candidates and the formation of members
          • Admission to the novitiate
          • The novitiate and the formation of novices
          • Religious profession
          • The formation of religious
        • The obligations and rights of institutes and their members
        • The apostolate of institutes
        • + Separation of members from the institute
          • Transfer to another institute
          • Departure from an institute
          • Dismissal of members
        • Religious raised to the episcopate
        • Conferences of major superiors
      • Secular institutes
    • Societies of Apostolic Life
• + The Teaching Function of the Church
  • + The Ministry of the Divine Word
    • The preaching of the word of God
    • Catechetical instruction
  • + The Missionary Action of the Church
    • Catholic Education
    • Schools
    • Catholic universities and other institutes of higher studies
    • Ecclesiastical universities and faculties
  • + Instruments of Social Communication and Books in Particular
    • The Profession of Faith
• + The Sanctifying Function of the Church
  • + The Sacraments
    • + Baptism
      • The celebration of baptism
      • The minister of baptism
      • Those to be baptized
      • Sponsors
      • The proof and registration of the conferral of baptism
    • + The Sacrament of Confirmation
      • The celebration of confirmation
      • The minister of confirmation
      • Those to be confirmed
      • Sponsors
      • The proof and registration of the conferral of confirmation
    • + The Most Holy Eucharist
      • + The eucharistic celebration
        • The minister of the Most Holy Eucharist
        • Participation in the Most Holy Eucharist
        • The rites and ceremonies of the eucharistic celebration
        • The time and place of the celebration of the Eucharist
      • The reservation and veneration of the Most Holy Eucharist
      • The offering given for the celebration of the Mass
    • + The Sacrament of Penance
      • The celebration of the sacrament
      • The minister of the sacrament of penance
      • The penitent
      • Indulgences
    • + The Sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick
      • The celebration of the sacrament
      • The minister of the anointing of the sick
      • Those on whom the anointing of the sick is to be conferred
    • + Orders
      • The celebration and minister of ordination
      • + Those to be ordained
        • Requirements in those to be ordained
        • The prerequisites for ordination
        • Irregularities and other impediments
        • The required documents and investigation
      • The notation and testimonial of ordination
    • + Marriage
      • Pastoral care and those things which must precede the celebration of marriage
      • Diriment impediments in general
      • Specific diriment impediments
      • Matrimonial consent
      • The form of the celebration of marriage
      • Mixed marriage
      • Marriage celebrated secretly
      • The effects of marriage
      • + The separation of spouses
        • Dissolution of the bond
        • Separation with the bond remaining
      • + The convalidation of marriage
        • Simple convalidation
        • Radical sanation
  • + Other Acts of Divine Worship
    • Sacramentals
    • The Liturgy of the Hours
    • + Ecclesiastical Funerals
      • The celebration of funerals
      • Those to whom ecclesiastical funerals must be granted or denied
    • The Veneration of the Saints, Sacred Images, and Relics
    • + A Vow and An Oath
      • A vow
      • An oath
  • + Sacred Places and Times
    • + Sacred Places
      • Churches
      • Oratories and private chapels
      • Shrines
      • Altars
      • Cemeteries
    • + Sacred Times
      • Feast days
      • Days of penance
• + The Temporal Goods of the Church
  • + The Acquisition of Goods
    • The Administration of Goods
  • Contracts and Especially Alienation
  • Pious Wills in General and Pious Foundations
• + Sanctions in the Church
  • + Delicts and Penalties in General
    • The Punishment of Delicts in General
    • Penal Law and Penal Precept
    • The Subject Liable to Penal Sanctions
    • + Penalties and Other Punishments
      • Censures
      • Expiatory penalties
      • Penal remedies and penances
    • The Application of Penalties
    • The Cessation of Penalties
  • + Penalties for Individual Delicts
    • Delicts Against Religion and the Unity of the Church
    • Delicts Against Ecclesiastical Authorities and the Freedom of the Church
    • Usurpation of Ecclesiastical Functions and Delicts in Their Exercise
    • The Crime of Falsehood
    • Delicts Against Special Obligations
    • Delicts Against Human Life and Freedom
    • General Norm
• + Processes
  • + Trials in General
    • The Competent Forum
    • + Different Grades and Kinds of Tribunals
      • + The tribunal of the first instance
        • The judge
        • Auditors and relators
        • The promoter of justice, the defender of the bond, and the notary
      • The tribunal of the second instance
      • The tribunals of the Apostolic See
    • + The Discipline To Be Observed in Tribunals
      • The duty of judges and ministers of the tribunal
      • The order of adjudication
      • Time limits and delays
      • The place of the trial
      • Persons to be admitted to the court and the manner of preparing and keeping the acts
    • + The Parties in a Case
      • The petitioner and the repsondent
      • Procurators for litigation and advocates
    • + Actions and Exceptions
      • Actions and exceptions in general
      • Specific actions and exceptions
  • + The Contentious Trial
    • + The Ordinary Contentious Trial
      • + The Introduction of the Case
        • The introductory libellus of litigation
        • The citation and notification of judicial acts
      • The Joinder of the Issue
      • The Trial of the Litigation
      • + Proofs
        • The declarations of the parties
        • + Proof through documents
          • The nature and trustworthiness of documents
          • The presentation of documents
        • + Witnesses and testimonies
          • Those who can be witnesses
          • The introduction and exclusion of witnesses
          • The examination of witnesses
          • The trustworthiness of testimonies
        • Experts
        • Judicial examination and inspection
        • Presumptions
      • + Incidental Cases
        • Parties who do not appear
        • The intervention of a third person in a case
      • The Publication of the Acts, the Conclusion of the Case, and the Discussion of the Case
      • The Pronouncements of the Judge
      • + Challenging of the Sentence
        • Complaint of nullity against the sentence
        • Appeal
      • + Res Iudicata and Restitutio in Integrum
        • Res iudicata
        • Restitutio in integrum
      • Judicial Expenses and Gratuitous Legal Assistance
      • The Execution of the Sentence
    • The Oral Contentious Process
  • + Certain Special Processes
    • + Matrimonial Processes
      • + Cases to declare the nullity of marriage
        • The competent forum
        • The right to challenge a marriage
        • The duty of the judges
        • Proofs
        • The sentence and the appeal
        • The documentary process
        • General norms
      • Cases of separation of spouses
      • Process for the dispensation of a marriage ratum et non consummatum
      • Process in the presumed death of a spouse
    • Cases for Declaring the Nullity of Sacred Ordination
    • Methods of Avoiding Trials
  • + The Penal Process
    • The preliminary investigation
    • The development of the process
    • Action to repair damages
  • + The Method of Proceeding in Administrative Recourse and in the Removal or Transfer of Pastors
    • Recourse Against Administrative Decrees
    • + The Procedure in the Removal or Transfer of Pastors
      • The manner of proceeding in the removal of pastors
      • The manner of proceeding in the transfer of pastors

What is this site?

CanonLaw.Ninja is a website that allows you to search canon law and other various church documents. It's developed by Fr. Paul Hedman, a priest of the Archdiocese of St. Paul & Minneapolis.

Is CanonLaw.Ninja up-to-date?

To the best of my knowledge, as of March 14, 2020, all of the documents on CanonLaw.Ninja are up to date. CanonLaw.Ninja includes the changes promulgated in Ad tuendam fidem, Omnium in Mentem, Mitis Iudex Dominus Iesus, De Concordia inter Codices, Magnum principium, Communis vita, and Pope Francis' update to the Catechism.

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Send an email to [email protected] and I'll get back to you as soon as I can. If I can do something that would make the site more useful to you, I'd love to help!

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Canons and cross-references were scraped from jgray.org. Catechism paragraphs were scraped from vatican.va. Other documents were scraped from various sources.

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