Canon law is dinner-party talk once more. In households up and down the country, Catholic and non-Catholic alike, the canonical form of marriage fleetingly became topic du jour following the marriage of Boris Johnson to Carrie Symonds. It seems the nation is ablaze with barrack-room canon lawyers. This new conversation around canon law is one that, with all its seemingly technical difficulties, might well delight Father Ladislas Orsy, the great canon lawyer who turns 100 on 30 July.
The times when canon law rises to the level of public debate are also times when the connection between canon law and theology can become clearer, and it is at the intersection of the two that the US-based Hungarian Orsy has been a pioneer. A veteran participant of Vatican II, which hugely influenced his work, Orsy has devoted a lifetime to the examination of the integral relationship between canon law and theology without losing site of their unique roles. Orsy emphasises the new attitude of mind that came out of Vatican II, urging canon lawyers and others to do likewise by raising new questions with “the courage to accept fresh answers”.
