Church law frees people to follow Christ, pope tells canonists

Published: 2008-01-25

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Far from being a list of restrictions, church law frees people to follow Christ, Pope Benedict XVI told participants in a congress on canon law. The church recognizes that the nature and function of its laws are to pursue its aim of achieving the salvation of people's souls, he said. Therefore, the pope said, it is important "that such laws be loved and observed by all the faithful." "Church law is, first of all, 'lex libertatis:' law that makes us free to follow Jesus," he said. The pope made his remarks during a Jan. 25 audience with some 700 participants in an international congress on canon law. The Jan. 24-25 congress, organized by the Pontifical Council for Legislative Texts, marked the 25th anniversary of the promulgation of the new Code of Canon Law in 1983.

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