ABOUT THE CONFERENCE PROGRAMME SPEAKERS
Study of Canon Law at Ecclesiastical Schools in Croatia Sources and Canon Bibliography
Presentation by Assist. Prof. Marija Džinić, PhD
The first systematic Code of Canon Law of the Catholic Church was published and entered into force in 1917. However, the study of canon law at public ecclesiastical schools in Croatia began long before that. The first textbook on canon law in the Croatian language, „Zakon czarkovni sloxen i upravglien za naucenie i prosvitgljenie redovnikov harvatskoga naroda“, by the Split canon with a doctorate in ecclesiastical and civil law della Costa, was published in 1778 in two volumes. It was deemed the first complete canon law textbook in the Croatian language. The second textbook, “Catholic Canon Law”, was edited by Dr Ferdinand Belaj in 1893 (1st edition). Numerous articles on the topic of canon law were published in various scientific journals, and significant canon law regulations were published in the form of conclusions of bishops’ conferences. However, the 1917 Code of Canon Law – that is to say, Dr Franjo Herman’s translation into Croatian – was the milestone that encouraged more active efforts in the preparation of new texts and bibliographies on canon law in Croatian.
Recognising the contribution of Catholic priests and professors, who, among other things, taught canon law at the Academy of Theology in Đakovo (today’s Catholic Faculty of Theology), the presentation makes a special reference to the founders of the canon law study programme at the Academy of Theology in Đakovo. Some of their works have been preserved in the archive of the “Central Diocesan and Faculty Library in Đakovo” and are still available. Dr Ivan Rogić (1900-1968) has been a professor of canon law in Đakovo for 34 years. He is also one of the most eminent canon law experts in Croatia. He has enriched the canon-law bibliography in Croatian, and his works are still studied by those specialising in the history of canon law in Croatia. His first work titled “Canon Law and the Book of the Code, General Rules (Normae generales)”, published in 1939, is a summary of his lectures. It is also important to mention his textbook titled “The Marriage Law of the Catholic Church and the Penal Law of the Catholic Church”, published in 1956.
A study of the aforementioned works indicates an ordering and thematic contents of the lectures that serve as a foundation for those taught by canon law professors to today’s generations. Another notable name is Dr Ilija Živković (1910-1989), a professor of canon law at the Academy of Theology in Đakovo, who published several textbooks toward the end of his academic tenure. The above names are only three of all those that will be mentioned due to their contribution to the advancement of the study of canon law at public ecclesiastical schools in Croatia. The presentation concludes the overview of the activities of the Croatian Canon Law Society (HKD), a goal of which is to promote the study of canon law and to cherish the Croatian canon-law tradition. Namely, one of the departments within HKD is the Expert Council for Canon Law Bibliography, which has issued a list of canon law bibliography published in Croatia “in order to display the ‘antiquities from the treasury’ as well as to encourage publishing of ‘new content’”.
Key words: canon law, study of law, 1917 Code of Canon Law, canon law textbooks, canon law professors, Croatia
