Privilege (canon law)
Encyclopedia
Privilege in the Canon law
of the Roman Catholic Church
is the legal concept whereby someone is exempt from the ordinary operation of the law over time for some specific purpose.
s, since both involved exceptions to the ordinary operations of the law. But whereas “dispensations exempt[ed] some person or group from legal obligations binding on the rest of the population or class to which they belong,” “[p]rivileges bestowed a positive favour not generally enjoyed by most people.” “Thus licences to teach or to practise law or medicine, for example,” were “legal privileges, since they confer[red] upon recipients the right to perform certain functions for pay, which the rest of the population [was] not [permitted to exercise.]” Privileges differed from dispensations in that dispensations were for one time, while a privilege was lasting. Yet, such licenses might also involve what should properly be termed dispensation
, if they waived the Canon law requirement that an individual hold a particular qualification to practice law
or medicine
, as, for example, a degree
.
The distinction between privilege and dispensation was not always clearly observed, and the term dispensation rather than privilege was used, even when the nature of the act made it clearly a privilege. Indeed, medieval canonists
treated privileges and dispensations as distinct, though related, aspects of the law. Privileges and indult
s were both special favours. Some writers hold that the former are positive favours, while indults are negative. The pope
might confer a degree as a positive privilege in his capacity as a temporal sovereign
, or he might do so by way of dispensation from the strict requirements of the Canon law. In both cases his authority to do so was found in the canon law. The pope's powers as a temporal sovereign are recognised in the Roman Catholic Code of Canon Law of 1983. In practice matters of education are dealt with though the hierarchy of the Church, rather than through that of Vatican City State, the residual part of the Papal States
.
s of certain cathedrals and Westminster Abbey
were still required to be degree-holders until recent times. The Dean
of Westminster Abbey was required to be a doctor
or bachelor of divinity
as recently as the late twentieth century. In these cases, conferring the status of a graduate is the granting of a privilege, in that the recipient has received a positive favour not generally enjoyed by most people, but it also acted as a dispensation with the requirements of the canon law. Still, however they were justified, in canon law, the conferral of degrees or degree status gave substantial and substantive rights and privileges, and were not merely empty honours.
In the event of degree status being conferred, the recipient was not deemed to hold the degree in question, but would enjoy any privileges which might be attached to such a degree—including qualification for office. Conferring the degree itself would of course would mean that the recipient enjoyed the style and not merely the privileges of a degree. They might also, for example, be thereafter admitted or incorporated to the same degree ad eundum
at Oxford
or Cambridge
—though few seem to have been so distinguished. It was however often difficult to be certain whether the degree itself, or merely its status and privileges, which was being conferred. Given the ostensible purpose of the papal dispensatory jurisdiction
, it would perhaps be more logical to view all of these “degrees” as strictly degree-status, and not substantive degrees. But the medieval—if not indeed modern—concept of the degree is of a grade or status. One achieves the status of master or doctor, which is conferred by one's university
(or in rare cases, by the pope). It is not an award, but the recognition of a certain degree of learning. It is perhaps significant that in the records of the (post-Reformation
) Court of Faculties
, the early “Lambeth degrees” are described in terms of dispensation to enjoy the privilege of DCL
or whatever the degree might be.
The exercise of the authority to confer such a privilege was often a positive step by the pope to emphasise his spiritual, if not temporal, authority. During the fifteenth century, attempts were made in England
to restrict the exercise of papal power in opposition to the Statute of Provisors
. To evade the disabilities imposed by that Act on non-graduates, it became usual towards the end of the century for those clerics not educated at English universities to obtain dispensations from Rome
, including, in a few cases, degrees. These were positive favours not generally enjoyed by most people, and that they were dispensing with the requirements of the Canon law was a secondary consideration. They were also exercised for the good of the individual as well as the good of the church.
Canon law (Catholic Church)
The canon law of the Catholic Church, is a fully developed legal system, with all the necessary elements: courts, lawyers, judges, a fully articulated legal code and principles of legal interpretation. It lacks the necessary binding force present in most modern day legal systems. The academic...
of the Roman Catholic Church
Roman Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...
is the legal concept whereby someone is exempt from the ordinary operation of the law over time for some specific purpose.
Definition
Papal privileges resembled dispensationDispensation (Catholic Church)
In the canon law of the Roman Catholic Church, a dispensation is the suspension by competent authority of general rules of law in particular cases...
s, since both involved exceptions to the ordinary operations of the law. But whereas “dispensations exempt[ed] some person or group from legal obligations binding on the rest of the population or class to which they belong,” “[p]rivileges bestowed a positive favour not generally enjoyed by most people.” “Thus licences to teach or to practise law or medicine, for example,” were “legal privileges, since they confer[red] upon recipients the right to perform certain functions for pay, which the rest of the population [was] not [permitted to exercise.]” Privileges differed from dispensations in that dispensations were for one time, while a privilege was lasting. Yet, such licenses might also involve what should properly be termed dispensation
Dispensation (Catholic Church)
In the canon law of the Roman Catholic Church, a dispensation is the suspension by competent authority of general rules of law in particular cases...
, if they waived the Canon law requirement that an individual hold a particular qualification to practice law
Law
Law is a system of rules and guidelines which are enforced through social institutions to govern behavior, wherever possible. It shapes politics, economics and society in numerous ways and serves as a social mediator of relations between people. Contract law regulates everything from buying a bus...
or medicine
Medicine
Medicine is the science and art of healing. It encompasses a variety of health care practices evolved to maintain and restore health by the prevention and treatment of illness....
, as, for example, a degree
Academic degree
An academic degree is a position and title within a college or university that is usually awarded in recognition of the recipient having either satisfactorily completed a prescribed course of study or having conducted a scholarly endeavour deemed worthy of his or her admission to the degree...
.
The distinction between privilege and dispensation was not always clearly observed, and the term dispensation rather than privilege was used, even when the nature of the act made it clearly a privilege. Indeed, medieval canonists
Canon law
Canon law is the body of laws & regulations made or adopted by ecclesiastical authority, for the government of the Christian organization and its members. It is the internal ecclesiastical law governing the Catholic Church , the Eastern and Oriental Orthodox churches, and the Anglican Communion of...
treated privileges and dispensations as distinct, though related, aspects of the law. Privileges and indult
Indult
An indult in Catholic canon law is a permission, or privilege, granted by the competent church authority – the Holy See or the diocesan bishop, as the case may be – for an exception from a particular norm of church law in an individual case, for example, members of the consecrated life seeking to...
s were both special favours. Some writers hold that the former are positive favours, while indults are negative. The pope
Pope
The Pope is the Bishop of Rome, a position that makes him the leader of the worldwide Catholic Church . In the Catholic Church, the Pope is regarded as the successor of Saint Peter, the Apostle...
might confer a degree as a positive privilege in his capacity as a temporal sovereign
Monarch
A monarch is the person who heads a monarchy. This is a form of government in which a state or polity is ruled or controlled by an individual who typically inherits the throne by birth and occasionally rules for life or until abdication...
, or he might do so by way of dispensation from the strict requirements of the Canon law. In both cases his authority to do so was found in the canon law. The pope's powers as a temporal sovereign are recognised in the Roman Catholic Code of Canon Law of 1983. In practice matters of education are dealt with though the hierarchy of the Church, rather than through that of Vatican City State, the residual part of the Papal States
Papal States
The Papal State, State of the Church, or Pontifical States were among the major historical states of Italy from roughly the 6th century until the Italian peninsula was unified in 1861 by the Kingdom of Piedmont-Sardinia .The Papal States comprised territories under...
.
Academic Degrees
In some instances petitioners sought an academic degree because without one they could not hold a particular office. CanonCanon (priest)
A canon is a priest or minister who is a member of certain bodies of the Christian clergy subject to an ecclesiastical rule ....
s of certain cathedrals and Westminster Abbey
Westminster Abbey
The Collegiate Church of St Peter at Westminster, popularly known as Westminster Abbey, is a large, mainly Gothic church, in the City of Westminster, London, United Kingdom, located just to the west of the Palace of Westminster. It is the traditional place of coronation and burial site for English,...
were still required to be degree-holders until recent times. The Dean
Dean (religion)
A dean, in a church context, is a cleric holding certain positions of authority within a religious hierarchy. The title is used mainly in the Anglican Communion and the Roman Catholic Church.-Anglican Communion:...
of Westminster Abbey was required to be a doctor
Doctor of Divinity
Doctor of Divinity is an advanced academic degree in divinity. Historically, it identified one who had been licensed by a university to teach Christian theology or related religious subjects....
or bachelor of divinity
Bachelor of Divinity
In Western universities, a Bachelor of Divinity is usually an undergraduate academic degree awarded for a course taken in the study of divinity or related disciplines, such as theology or, rarely, religious studies....
as recently as the late twentieth century. In these cases, conferring the status of a graduate is the granting of a privilege, in that the recipient has received a positive favour not generally enjoyed by most people, but it also acted as a dispensation with the requirements of the canon law. Still, however they were justified, in canon law, the conferral of degrees or degree status gave substantial and substantive rights and privileges, and were not merely empty honours.
In the event of degree status being conferred, the recipient was not deemed to hold the degree in question, but would enjoy any privileges which might be attached to such a degree—including qualification for office. Conferring the degree itself would of course would mean that the recipient enjoyed the style and not merely the privileges of a degree. They might also, for example, be thereafter admitted or incorporated to the same degree ad eundum
Ad eundem degree
An ad eundem degree is a courtesy degree awarded by one university or college to an alumnus of another. The recipient of the ad eundem degree is often a faculty member at the institution where he or she is receiving the honor....
at Oxford
University of Oxford
The University of Oxford is a university located in Oxford, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest surviving university in the world and the oldest in the English-speaking world. Although its exact date of foundation is unclear, there is evidence of teaching as far back as 1096...
or Cambridge
University of Cambridge
The University of Cambridge is a public research university located in Cambridge, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest university in both the United Kingdom and the English-speaking world , and the seventh-oldest globally...
—though few seem to have been so distinguished. It was however often difficult to be certain whether the degree itself, or merely its status and privileges, which was being conferred. Given the ostensible purpose of the papal dispensatory jurisdiction
Jurisdiction
Jurisdiction is the practical authority granted to a formally constituted legal body or to a political leader to deal with and make pronouncements on legal matters and, by implication, to administer justice within a defined area of responsibility...
, it would perhaps be more logical to view all of these “degrees” as strictly degree-status, and not substantive degrees. But the medieval—if not indeed modern—concept of the degree is of a grade or status. One achieves the status of master or doctor, which is conferred by one's university
University
A university is an institution of higher education and research, which grants academic degrees in a variety of subjects. A university is an organisation that provides both undergraduate education and postgraduate education...
(or in rare cases, by the pope). It is not an award, but the recognition of a certain degree of learning. It is perhaps significant that in the records of the (post-Reformation
Protestant Reformation
The Protestant Reformation was a 16th-century split within Western Christianity initiated by Martin Luther, John Calvin and other early Protestants. The efforts of the self-described "reformers", who objected to the doctrines, rituals and ecclesiastical structure of the Roman Catholic Church, led...
) Court of Faculties
Court of Faculties
Under English ecclesiastical law, the Court of Faculties is a tribunal of the Archbishop of Canterbury, and is attached to the office of the Archbishop of Canterbury....
, the early “Lambeth degrees” are described in terms of dispensation to enjoy the privilege of DCL
DCL
- Organizations :* Detroit College of Law, now known as Michigan State University College of Law* Data Connection Ltd, see Metaswitch* Disney Cruise Line, a cruise line company * Distillers Company Limited, a producer of spirits...
or whatever the degree might be.
The exercise of the authority to confer such a privilege was often a positive step by the pope to emphasise his spiritual, if not temporal, authority. During the fifteenth century, attempts were made in England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
to restrict the exercise of papal power in opposition to the Statute of Provisors
Statute of Provisors
The English statute usually called Statute of Provisors is the 25th of Edward III, St. 4 , otherwise termed "The Statute of Provisors of Benefices", or anciently De provisoribus...
. To evade the disabilities imposed by that Act on non-graduates, it became usual towards the end of the century for those clerics not educated at English universities to obtain dispensations from Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
, including, in a few cases, degrees. These were positive favours not generally enjoyed by most people, and that they were dispensing with the requirements of the Canon law was a secondary consideration. They were also exercised for the good of the individual as well as the good of the church.