Acta Apostolicae Sedis
| Controlling authority | CIC canon 8 §1 and the publication practice of the Apostolic See |
|---|---|
| Juridical character | Official publication series; inclusion does not give every item the same legal or doctrinal force |
Acta Apostolicae Sedis is the official gazette of the Holy See in which universal ecclesiastical laws are ordinarily promulgated and many papal and curial acts are authoritatively published.[1]
Overview
Acta Apostolicae Sedis (Latin for 'Acts of the Apostolic See'), often cited as AAS, is the official gazette of the Holy See,[2] appearing about twelve times a year.[3] It was established by Pope Pius X on 29 September 1908 with the decree Promulgandi Pontificias Constitutiones, and publication began in January 1909.[3] It contains all the principal decrees, encyclical letters, decisions of Roman congregations, and notices of ecclesiastical appointments.[4] The laws contained in it are to be considered promulgated when published, and effective three months from date of issue, unless a shorter or longer time is specified in the law.[5]
Official publication and promulgation
Canon 8 establishes publication in the Acta Apostolicae Sedis as the ordinary mode of Promulgation of Ecclesiastical Law for universal Latin laws unless another mode is prescribed in a particular case. Promulgation establishes the law publicly; the usual three-month vacatio follows from the date printed on the issue unless the nature of the matter or the law itself supplies another period.[6]
The Acta also publishes Apostolic Constitutions, Encyclicals, decrees, appointments, concordats, authentic interpretations, and notices that are not all universal laws. Publication can authenticate and preserve an act without changing its juridical species. The heading, issuer, operative language, approval, and governing law remain necessary.[7]
Official gazette and website
A text appearing first on Vatican.va, in a press bulletin, or in L'Osservatore Romano can be genuine and may take effect through a specially prescribed mode of promulgation. Later appearance in the Acta supplies the official documentary record but does not necessarily postpone effectiveness. The act's own promulgation clause controls.
Reading an Acta citation
A conventional citation gives the series abbreviation AAS, volume, year, and page. This enables readers to identify the promulgated witness even when a modern web edition offers translations or reformatted text. Corrections, errata, and later amendments must be checked because a convenient online transcription can omit documentary context.
Acta publication does not make a historical notice Dogma, an appointment universal law, or a disciplinary decree irreformable. Nor does an authentic papal teaching lose authority because its translated webpage is easier to consult. Documentary status and Authority Level answer related but distinct questions.
Language and controlling text
Latin remains common but the Acta also contains texts in other languages. Where a law has an official Latin text, translation assists readers but does not supersede it in a dispute about exact wording.
Encyclopedic use
Collapsing those dates can create false claims that a law bound before promulgation or that publication and commencement are always simultaneous.
The Acta Apostolicae Sedis is an authoritative primary source, not a substitute for interpretation. Canon Law, an Authentic Interpretation of Canon Law, jurisprudence, and competent administrative application can be needed to determine what a published act means in a concrete case.
Acta Sanctæ Sedis
Acta Sanctæ Sedis (ASS; Latin for 'Acts of the Holy See') was a Roman monthly publication containing the principal public documents issued by the pope, directly or through the Roman congregations.
It was begun in 1865, under the title of Acta Sanctæ Sedis in compendium redacta etc.. At the time, it was not designated as the official means of promulgating laws of the Holy See, nor as an official publication of the Holy See; the publication of the ASS was purely a private initiative. However, this changed when on 23 May 1904 the ASS was declared an organ of the Holy See by Pius X, to the extent that all documents printed in it were considered "authentic and official"; those dispositions were put in place beginning with vol. 37 of the ASS, in 1904.[8] The Acta Sanctæ Sedis ceased publication in 1908, with its last volume being the 41st.[8]
Acta Apostolicae Sedis
On 29 September 1908, Pope Pius X, in the decree Promulgandi Pontificias Constitutiones, replaced the Acta Sanctæ Sedis with the Acta Apostolicae Sedis, to which he gave the status of the official gazette of the Holy See, and which began publication in January 1909.[9] In the new disposition, the documents published in the AAS are considered as authentic and official—like the ones in the ASS since its volume 37—but the novelty is that it is by the publication in the AAS that those documents, unless otherwise stated, are promulgated.[10]
The Acta Apostolicae Sedis is published in Latin, but also contains documents in many different languages.
Since 1929, Acta Apostolicae Sedis can have a supplement in Italian, called Supplemento per le leggi e disposizioni dello Stato della Città del Vaticano, containing laws and regulations of Vatican City, the city-state founded the same year. In accordance with paragraph 2 of the Legge sulle fonti del diritto of 7 June 1929,[11] the laws of the state are promulgated by being included in this supplement.
See also
References
- Back to citation Acta Apostolicae Sedis archive — The Holy See's official archive of the Acta Apostolicae Sedis, the documentary series in which universal ecclesiastical laws and many other acts of the Apostolic See are published.
- Back to citation New Commentary on the Code of Canon Law, pg. 60.
- Back to citation occurrence 3.0 Back to citation occurrence 3.1 Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church (Oxford University Press 2005 ISBN 978-0-19-280290-3), article Acta Apostolicae Sedis
- Back to citation Modern Catholic Dictionary, reproduced at Catholic Culture
- Back to citation Modern Catholic Dictionary, reproduced at Catholic Culture; 1917 Code of Canon Law, canon 9; 1983 Code of Canon Law, canon 8
- Back to citation Code of Canon Law, canons 7–22 — Binding Latin law on promulgation, vacatio legis, authentic interpretation, strict interpretation, legal gaps, and the relation of later laws to earlier laws.
- Back to citation Praedicate Evangelium, articles 29–31 — Binding norms for documents of the Roman Curia, papal approval, special faculties, general decrees, derogations from universal law, and approval in forma specifica.
- Back to citation occurrence 8.0 Back to citation occurrence 8.1 Van Riet, Georges (1982). "Le titre de l'encyclique "Aeterni Patris". Note historique". Revue Philosophique de Louvain. 80 (45): 36–7. doi:10.3406/phlou.1982.6172.
- Back to citation Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church (Oxford University Press 2005 ISBN 978-0-19-280290-3), article "Acta Apostolicae Sedis"
- Back to citation Van Riet, Georges (1982). "Le titre de l'encyclique "Aeterni Patris". Note historique". Revue Philosophique de Louvain. 80 (45): 37. doi:10.3406/phlou.1982.6172.
- Back to citation "Leggi sulle fonti del diritto" [Read about the sources of law] (in Italian). The Vatican. 1 October 2008. Art. 1, (item) 2.
External links
Bibliography
- Beal, John P., James A. Coriden, Thomas J. Green. New Commentary on the Code of Canon Law: Commissioned by the Canon Law Society of America (New York: Paulist Press, 2000).