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REDC 47 (1990) 517-41
THE CODE REVISION PROCESS: THE INVOLVEMENT OF THE CANON LAW SOCIETY OF AMERICA
(A) Introduction The postconciliar period has been a time of significant canonical reform. There has been noteworthy legislative activ ity at all levels as well as an exceptional renewal of canonical studies. Such a renewal has been fostered in part in North America by the Canon Law Society of America (hereafter cited as CLSA), a professional association of nearly 2000 members in the United States and elsewhere Like the canonical faculty of Salamanca the CLS A is a recent jubilarian, having celebrated its fiftieth anniversary during its 1988 annual convention 2 . If continuing canon cal renewal is to be fostered, canonists need to collaborate both nationally and internationally. They need to be familiar with the academic-pastoral work that is taking place in various countries. Such a concern prompts the following reflections on the CLSA. Since Vatican II the CLSA has been involved in numerous legalpastoral issues. However, this paper focuses primarily on the code
1 Article 11 of the Constitution lists the following purposes of the CLSA: prornoting the church's pastoral ministry, cooperating in the continuous renewal of the law, encouraging canonical research, responding to practica' legal-pastoral needs, facilitating the interchange of ideas and practices among canonists, cooperating with professionals in other sacred sciences and establishing a dialogue with canonists throughout the world. 2 For the papers given at this special convention see the corresponding Proceedings (henceforth cited PCLSA and the year of the convention). See siso Reflections on the Occasion of the Fiftieth Anniversary October 1988 (Washington, DC., 1988). The author will refer to two articles in particular: Provost, First Fifty R. Cunningham, `Reforming the Code and the Society' (15~25) and J. Years: a Chronology' (43-56). For access to CLSA resources contact: Canon Law Society of America, Office of the Executive Coordinator, Catholic Univers ty of America, Washington, DC 20064, USA.
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