The pope met with the Pontifical Council for Legislative Texts, which deals with preparing the Church laws and ensuring their correct interpretation.
Pope Francis reminded the bishops that a pastoral attitude means they must also obey canonical law. He said problems cannot be resolved without respecting legal norms, because there is a danger of arbitrariness.
POPE FRANCIS
We see today in this, in this piecemeal war, we see how there's always a lack of the law. Always. Dictatorships grow, begin and grow when there is no law. In the Church, this cannot happen.
He also said canon law not only seeks the respect of the law, but looks to repairs the crime and tries to correct those who are guilty.
That is why judges within the Church are different from civil judges. Above all, because Church judges are often bishops of dioceses. In that case, the bishop choses the punishment by the law when the convicted cannot be changed and justice by other means is not possible.
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