Pope Benedict XV promulgates the 1917 Code of Canon Law, the first comprehensive codification of Catholic canon law in the legal history of the Catholic Church.

Pope Benedict XV

Head of the Catholic Church from 1914 to 1922

Pope Benedict XV was head of the Catholic Church from 1914 until his death in January 1922. His pontificate was largely overshadowed by World War I and its political, social, and humanitarian consequences in Europe.

1917 Code of Canon Law

1917 codification of Catholic canon law

The 1917 Code of Canon Law, also referred to as the Pio-Benedictine Code, is the first official comprehensive codification of Latin canon law.

Codification (law)

Process of collecting and restating certain area of law forming a legal code

In law, codification is the process of collecting and restating the law of a jurisdiction in certain areas, usually by subject, forming a legal code, i.e. a codex (book) of law.

Canon law of the Catholic Church

Catholic religious laws and principles

The canon law of the Catholic Church is "how the Church organizes and governs herself". It is the system of religious laws and ecclesiastical legal principles made and enforced by the hierarchical authorities of the Catholic Church to regulate its external organization and…

Legal history of the Catholic Church

The Catholic Church utilizes the oldest continuously functioning legal system in the West, much later than Roman law but predating the evolution of modern European civil law traditions. The history of Latin canon law can be divided into four periods: the jus antiquum, the jus…