Paraguayan President Granted Holy Dispensation

In an unprecedented decision the Vatican has granted Paraguayan President-elect Fernando Lugo dispensation of  "all obligations as a priest, as a bishop and as a religious man of the Divine Word" (my translation).  The dispensation by Pope Benedict XVI was formally announced today in Paraguay by Orlando Antonini, Apostalic Nuncio of the Vatican.  Antonini also stated that this decision was reached after several years of research and analysis into Canon Law.

President-elect Lugo resigned from the priesthood in 2006 when he decided to run for president.  His victory in April 2008 ended the 61-year rule of the Partido Colorado in Paraguay.  He will officially take office on August 15, 2008. At the time of his 2006 resignation, he was advised that he might be excommunicated for violating the Vatican's rule against clerical involvement in politics.  Read more...

Yale has a fantastic Canon Law collection located on the LES (Lower East Side) of the library, with current and historical texts in many languages, such as:

• The Canon Law (2002) (a handbook of Catholic Theology)
• Die Geschichte der Quellen und Literatur des Canonischen Rechts (1875) (The History of the Sources and Literature of Canon Law (my translation) - a bibliography).

There are also several law reviews dedicated to Canon Law, such as:

• Revista Española de Derecho Canónico
• Revue de Droit Canonique. 

There are several excellent, free, online research guides to assist with Canon Law research:

• Canon Law Research Guide
• Comparative Religious Law Research Guide 

There is even a blog dedicated to Canon Law by Prof. Edward N. Peters, J.D., J.C.D., Sacred Heart Seminary in Detroit, MI:

• In Light of the Law