Volume one of Prof. Carlos J. Errázuriz's monumental treatment of canon law establishes that law in the Catholic Church is properly understood as that which is just. In the second volume, he moves to the foremost protagonist in this arena––namely, the human person. The human person is the primary holder of rights and obligations in the Church, destined for the salvation merited by Christ. The salvific goods constituted by the Word of God and the sacraments are fundamental aspects of juridical relationships and life in the Church.

Being subject to law, Errázuriz observes, does not undermine the freedom and dignity of the person. Rather, ecclesial law intends to confront the human person with his true supernatural inheritance, while preserving him in the mystery of communion within which the Church herself exists. Indeed, the human person has both natural and supernatural dignity, and likewise responsibilities that bear upon the seen and unseen realms of communion.

Prof. Errázuriz examines the practical applications of personhood and law, as well as the perspectives of the human subject that derive from his ontological status. This is further drawn across various states of life that occur within the Church and the differing juridical relations encountered.  Also considered is the nature of association in the Church, and Errázuriz breaks down the concepts and particular realities pertaining to this natural tendency and the legal discipline. 
 

Consonant with its commitment to publish seminal works in the field of canon law, St. Augustine's Press is pleased to make available the first volume in a series that will undoubtedly endure as a masterpiece of scholarship. Carlos José Errázuriz, Professor of Canon Law at the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross (Rome) has provided a comprehensive and insightful treatment of rights, justice, and law in the Catholic Church, beginning with the most basic questions regarding the essence of these realities. His responses exhibit the perspective of that which is just in the Church, which consists of ecclesial juridical goods: the Word of God, the sacraments, the freedom of the children of God, and sacred potestas. This work vindicates the institution of law, but also addresses the "spontaneity" of just freedom proper to what has been instituted by Christ.
 
Errázuriz presents more than the current Code of Canon Law. He instills a realistic perspective of right and law in the Church, and in so doing fills a massive gap in English scholarship. No introduction to canon law available in English rivals Errázuriz's description of justice in the Church and its relationship with communion and sacramentality.
 
Volume I is comprised of the first three chapters of the original, Corso fondamentale sul diritto nella Chiesa (in two volumes, Giuffrè: Milan, 2009 and 2017): "Rights, Justice and Law in the Church," "Canon Law in History," and "The Configuration of Rights and Law in the Church."