Kirchliche Sanktionen zwischen Akzeptanz und Kritik

Zur Begründung des Strafanspruchs der katholischen Kirche

Abstract

The penal claim of the Catholic Church has repeatedly been called into question and remains a subject of ongoing discussion. This contribution therefore takes as its point of departure the question of how the claim expressed in c. 1311 § 1 – namely, that it is the Church’s innate and proper right (ius nativum et proprium) to impose penal sanctions on the Christian faithful who have committed delicts – can be theologically justified. To this end, various lines of argument are developed and systematically correlated, drawing on the canon itself and its historical development, its sources, and the ecclesiology of the Second Vatican Council.