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The Historical Development of the Canonical Understanding of Moral Certitude

出版	Catholic University of America. 2023., 2023
URL	http://books.google.com.hk/books?id=66Qv0AEACAAJ&hl=&source=gbs_api

註釋The Catholic Church holds that judges in canonical trials and other practitioners of canon law are always to keep the salvation of souls before their eyes (c. 1752). Canonists have always understood the Church's responsibility for the salvation of souls to include the souls of canonical judges, whose salvation could be imperiled if they condemned the innocent or otherwise failed to administer justice. Such concerns were a driving force behind the initial efforts of canonists and theologians to develop the Church's teaching regarding the moral certitude at which a judge must arrive in order to pronounce a sentence (per c. 1608 ℗ʹ1). Over time-particularly after the Church ended its participation in blood punishments-canonists came to understand the role of moral certitude more in terms of ensuring the rule of justice than protecting the judge's conscience. With that enlarged understanding, moral certitude came to be roughly equated in canon law with the secular understanding of certainty "beyond a reasonable doubt." However, the two are not identical, as moral certitude includes, or at least is capable of including, certain positive aspects that the secular concept lacks. This thesis examines the historical development of the canonical understanding of moral certitude and shows how recent Magisterial teachings, particularly those of Pope Pius XII, gave judges positive criteria to assist them in arriving at the moral certitude that is necessary for a just verdict.