The nature and use of the recognitio of the Apostolic See with a consideration of select normative decisions of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops

The juridic institute of the recognitio refers to the review by the Apostolic See of normative decisions enacted by particular councils (c. 446) and episcopal conferences (cc. 455 and 456) prior to their promulgation. First decreed for decisions of particular councils by Pope Sixtus V in 1588, the recognitio was included in the 1917 code and extended to general decrees of conferences of bishops in the Vatican II decree Christus Dominus and the 1983 Code of Canon Law. Canon 838 §3 requires that vernacular translations of liturgical texts and liturgical adaptations approved by an episcopal conference receive the prior recognitio from the Apostolic See before their publication. In 1998, Pope John Paul II applied the recognitio to doctrinal declarations of episcopal conferences when approved by two thirds of the episcopal members with a deliberative vote (Apostolos suos, art. 1).; The development of episcopal conference activity since Vatican II has resulted in conflicts with the Apostolic See in the granting of the recognitio, especially as bishops have sought to exercise jointly their threefold munera by means of pastoral yet binding norms. These conflicts are prompted in part by emendations to conference norms by the Apostolic See prior to the granting of the recognitio as well as by modifications of conference norms after the recognitio has been granted. The recognitio continues to be a constant concern in relations between the Apostolic See and episcopal conferences.; The dissertation is an historical-juridical study of the recognitio in two parts. Part I examines the history of the recognitio from its pre-normative roots in early episcopal synods through Sixtus V's 1588 decree to the 1917 Code of Canon Law, the recognitio at the Second Vatican Council, and the development of the canons mentioning the recognitio in the 1983 Code of Canon Law. Part II examines the object of the recognitio, its author, the recognitio in se, and its effect, with consideration given select normative decisions of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. Insights on the recognitio from the experience of the Eastern Catholic Churches in their relationships with the Apostolic See are also discussed.