The capacity of the Catholic Church’s legal order for international relations

Rónay, Miklós (2012) The capacity of the Catholic Church’s legal order for international relations. Acta Juridica Hungarica, 53 (4). pp. 287-301. ISSN 1216-2574

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Abstract

The active participation in the life of the international community of the Holy See is natural. As it comes from its nature, vocation and aim, the Holy See acts on behalf of the world-wide spread Catholic Church. Most of its bilateral diplomatic relations and international treaties are about the relations between a certain state and the local part of the Church. The Holy See is able to exert international activity in the name of the universal Church and for the benefit of it in such way that its acts are complied with the rules of the international law.It can be read in the manuals of the international law that the Holy See is a sui generis subject of the international law. It can hardly be explained for the international law that the Holy See acts in face of “external entities” in the name of the universal Church and on behalf of it. This function is either not mentioned or it is seen as “a tradition” in the manuals of the international law. It can also happen that this function is viewed as a kind of concession from the part of the different states, but one can find other solutions as well.In this essay I attempt to find a model outside the paradigm of the international law but inside the paradigm of law that explains in what way the Holy See is able to exert international activity in the name of the universal Church and for the benefit of the universal Church with the help of the mechanism of the jurisprudence.

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