This volume unites three disparate strands of historical and legal experience. Nearly from its beginning, the Catholic Church has sought to promote peace – among warring parties, and among private litigants. The volume explores three vehicles the Church has used to promote peace: papal diplomacy of international disputes both medieval and contemporary; the arbitration of disputes among litigants; and the use of the tools of reconciliation to bring about rapprochement between ecclesiastical superiors and those subject to their authority. The book concludes with an appendix exploring a wide variety of hypothetical, yet plausible scenarios in which the Church might use its good offices to repair breaches among persons and nations.

Published in 1998, these essays focus on Rome and the curia in the 11th and 12th centuries. Several relate to Cardinal Deusdedit and his canonical collection (1087) and to the pontificate of Paschal II (1099-1118). Both personalities and their ideas are presented within the larger setting of contemporary problems, highlighting divergent currents among ecclesiastical reformers at a time of the investiture controversies. A third common theme is formed by discussions of the organization and archival practices of the curia, which were of fundamental importance for the growth and codification of canon law, not to mention papal control of the Church.

A historical, theological and juridical explanation of the nature of the Roman Curia The Roman Curia is the central body for the administration of the Roman Catholic Church. Its structure and organization is governed by Praedicate Evangelium, a new law issued by Pope Francis in 2022. The nature of the Curia is both confusing to many and vitally important for the administration of the Church and the Vatican. The Roman Curia provides a historical, theological, and juridical explanation of the nature of the Roman Curia, highlighting its relationship to the Pope. Ekpo provides a brief and highly intelligible overview of the development of the Roman Curia and its present configuration in the light of Pope Francis’ reorganization. He shows the differences between the Holy See, Vatican City State and the Curia, defining each entity’s role. This overview of the Roman Curia and allied ecclesiastical institutions, like the Vatican and the Holy See, is the first comprehensive treatment in English on the reforms enacted by Praedicate Evangelium. Teachers, students, and researchers alike will find this an invaluable on the nature, history, theology, and juridical structures of the Roman Curia.

The interest in the history of the development of canon law has been focused primarily on the writings of the large body of canonist who were active from the twelfth through the fourteenth centuries. Within this period, the writings of the canonist who lived in the century between Gratian and Gregory IX are of special importance. One result of the promulgation of the Gregorian Decretals was that it mad the formidable production of canonical literature of the preceding one hundred years largely obsolete for practical purposes. Points disputed in the earlier authors were often settled by subsequent legislation, and older interpretations were no longer compatible with the official text. The net result of it all was that the immense output of canonical exegesis in the form of Summae, Distinctiones, Notabilia, Generalia, and other literary forms - the work of an entire century - soon fell into oblivion. Until recently, studies in this field were the concern of a small group of scholars. Now a challenging project is underway to make available in printed editions the canonistic treasures of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. Heretofore these works have been extant only in manuscript form, scattered throughout the libraries of Europe

In the first study of its kind Mary McAleese subjects to comprehensive scrutiny the Roman Catholic Church's 1983 Code of Canon law as it applies to children. The Catholic Church is the world's largest non-governmental organisation involved in the provision of education and care services to children. It has over three hundred million child members world-wide the vast majority of whom became Church members when they were baptised as infants. Canon law sets out their rights and obligations as members. Children also have rights which are set out in the 1989 United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child to which the Holy See is State Party. The impact of the Convention on Canon Law is examined in detail and the analysis charts a distinct and worrying sea-change in the attitude of the Holy See to its obligations under the Convention since the clerical sex abuse scandals became a subject of discussion at the Committee on the Rights of the Child, which monitors implementation of the Convention.