Re: Catholics less nutty than Protestants: more evidence
[ QUOTE ]
Who is the arbiter of what is "doctrine"
[/ QUOTE ]
The church through definitive statements made by councils of bishops and which are confirmed by the pope, and also the pope himself directly when he makes a rarely used ex cathedra definition of a doctrine.
[ QUOTE ]
and what is "canon law?"
[/ QUOTE ]
A code based, as opposed to law + common law + precedent based, system of rules that detail how the church and the things to do with it, is administered. There are canon lawyers who specialize in such things, and the bishops of each diocese normally decide any disputes in canon law, although certain cases can be appealed to various departments of the Vatican Curia or the Pontifical Commission for the Interpretation of Legislative Texts. A large part of canonical cases deal with petitions for annulments of marriages. Very dry and boring stuff.
|