"Salus Animarum Suprema Lex": How Does This Principle of Canon Law Relate to the "End of Law"?
References to "salus animarum" and its supremacy in church appear six times in the Code of Canon Law. However, their meaning is disputed. Some scholars understand the phrase as an intralegal principle guiding the interpretation of ecclesiastical law. Others read it as metajuridical, thereb...
| Main Author: | |
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| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Interlibrary Loan: | Interlibrary Loan for the Fachinformationsdienste (Specialized Information Services in Germany) |
| Published: |
2025
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| In: |
Political theology
Year: 2025, Volume: 26, Issue: 5, Pages: 548-563 |
| Further subjects: | B
Iustitium
B Roman catholic canon law B state of exception B Giorgio Agamben B salvation of souls B Carl Schmitt |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (kostenfrei) |
| Summary: | References to "salus animarum" and its supremacy in church appear six times in the Code of Canon Law. However, their meaning is disputed. Some scholars understand the phrase as an intralegal principle guiding the interpretation of ecclesiastical law. Others read it as metajuridical, thereby stressing the limits of the law’s ability to serve the church and its members when their salvation is at stake. This reading is a plausible interpretation in line with the ancient Roman understanding of "salus" formulae. These alluded to the "end of the law," the state of exception in which the law was suspended to save the people or the Republic from urgent danger by making room for extra-legal sovereign decisions. Drawing on this tradition, the formula "salus animarum" alludes to an urgent spiritual need in church which introduces a critical political instrument into the law: the iustitium, a temporary "end of law" that protects individual salvation and the common good in the church. |
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| ISSN: | 1743-1719 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Political theology
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1080/1462317X.2025.2465934 |
