Canon Law and the Western Legal Tradition:

A Conversation with Father Javier Castrejon

Interview Conducted and Transcribed by Maclain Conlin (All errors are my own).

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(All views expressed in this interview are those of the guest and do not necessarily represent the position of the Clemson Law Review or its leadership.) 

Maclain Conlin: Welcome to the Clemson Law Review’s interview series. Today, we are joined by a very special and unique guest, Father Javier Castrejon. Father Castrejon was born in Mexico City in 1978, the youngest of three children. He was educated in Mexico and studied Canon Law at the Pontifical University of Mexico from 2004 to 2007. Father Castrejon was a member of the College of Consultors, the Council of Priests and was Judicial Vicar in the Diocese of Ciudad Altamirano.

In 2015, Father Castrejon was installed as Parochial Vicar of Sacred Heart Church in Pinehurst, North Carolina, and as Administrator of Mission San Juan Diego. In addition to his duties as a parish priest, Father Castrejon also serves as the Judicial Vicar of the Diocese of Raleigh in North Carolina. Today, he joins us to discuss Canon Law, its impact on the daily lives of Christians from various denominations, and the role that it has played in the broader Western legal tradition, including the history of natural rights. Father Castrejon, thank you for joining us.

Father Javier Castrejon: Thank you for inviting me.

MC: Before exploring the role of Canon Law more broadly, would you mind providing an overview of what Catholic Canon Law is, and the bodies that are responsible for creating it?

FJC: Catholic Canon Law is the system of legal norms that governs the structure, life, and mission of the Catholic Church. Its supreme aim is the salus animarum (the salvation of souls), which is considered the highest law of the Church (cf. c. 1752 CIC 1983). It is a complete and autonomous legal system, with its own principles, sources, and institutions.

Important bodies that contribute to Canon Law include:

The Roman Pontiff (The Pope)—As the supreme legislator of the universal Church, the Pope has full authority to promulgate canon laws through documents such as apostolic constitutions and motu proprio.

The College of Bishops in communion with the Pope—especially when gathered in an Ecumenical Council, the bishops may promulgate universally binding norms.

The Dicastery for Legislative Texts (formerly the Pontifical Council for Legislative Texts)—This body assists the Pope in interpreting Canon Law authentically and proposing updates or reforms.

Apostolic Tribunals—Particularly the Roman Rota, which serves as the ordinary appellate tribunal of the Holy See and a major source of Jurisprudence in matrimonial cases.

Particular Churches (Archdioceses and Dioceses)—Bishops can issue particular laws for their dioceses within the limits of universal law (cf. c. 391 §1 CIC 1983), although these remain subordinate to universal legislation.

MC: Why did you choose to pursue a degree in Canon Law?

FJC: I decided to pursue studies in Canon Law because, during my seminary formation, it was the subject within my theological studies that most appealed to me. Canon Law encompasses the doctrine of the Church, regulates it, and applies it in concrete situations. It provides clear criteria and limits for how to assist people pastorally without violating the law, thereby safeguarding and serving the supreme law of the Church: the salvation of souls.

MC: As the Judicial Vicar of the Diocese of Raleigh, what does your role entail?

FJC: As Judicial Vicar of the Diocese of Raleigh, my service consists in directing and ensuring the proper administration of canonical justice in the name of the diocesan Bishop, exercising ordinary judicial authority over the diocesan tribunal. The Judicial Vicar oversees the organization and functioning of the tribunal, admits and adjudicates cases, particularly marriage nullity cases, either personally or through collegiate panels of judges, safeguards due process and the right of defense, supervises and appoints tribunal personnel such as judges, defenders of the bond, and notaries, advises the Bishop on juridical matters when necessary, and ensures that the exercise of justice remains faithful to Canon Law, jurisprudence, and the pastoral mission of the Church within the Diocese of Raleigh.

MC: What role has Canon Law played in the history of the Western legal tradition? Has Canon Law influenced the way that people in the West think about natural rights?

FJC: Canon Law has played a foundational role in shaping the Western legal tradition, both structurally and conceptually. Emerging as one of the earliest systematic bodies of law in medieval Europe, especially with the 12th-century Decretum Gratiani, it introduced legal procedures, institutions, and principles that deeply influenced civil and common law systems. Its procedural norms, such as due process, the right to defense, judicial impartiality, and motivated judgments, became models for later secular courts. Moreover, Canon Law developed and preserved the idea of natural law, affirming that certain rights and moral principles are inherent to human nature and precede positive law. This concept, rooted in the dignity and freedom of the human person, profoundly impacted philosophical and legal thought, particularly through figures like St. Thomas Aquinas and the Salamanca School, eventually influencing early modern theories of natural rights and later the formulation of human rights. Canon law thus not only contributed to the legal institutions of the West but also helped shape the moral and anthropological framework within which rights are conceived.

MC: What role does Canon Law play in the everyday life of a Catholic?

FJC: Canon Law deeply influences the daily life of a Catholic by regulating everything from the administration of the sacraments, such as Baptism, Confirmation, the Eucharist, Marriage, etc., to the rights and duties of the faithful within the Church. It establishes the conditions for the validity and lawfulness of liturgical acts, sets norms for married life including the procedures for declaring a marriage null when there are defects of consent or impediments, and ensures that ecclesiastical judicial processes are carried out justly, respecting the right of defense and always promoting the salvation of souls. It also organizes ecclesial life in parishes, dioceses, and lay associations, governs the pastoral authority of bishops and pastors, and protects both the common good of the Church and the dignity of each faithful. Even in ordinary matters like attending Sunday Mass, observing holy days of obligation, or following rules on fasting and abstinence, Canon Law provides the normative structure that shapes the practice of faith in community and guides believers toward a coherent and ordered Christian life.

MC: Do other Christian traditions also possess bodies of Canon Law, and if so, how are their traditions different from or similar to the Catholic Canon Law tradition?

FJC: Yes, several other Christian traditions possess their own forms of ecclesiastical law comparable, though not identical, to Catholic Canon Law: the Eastern Orthodox Churches, such as the Greek Orthodox Church and the Russian Orthodox Church, have a genuine canonical tradition rooted in the canons of the Ecumenical Councils and the Fathers, applied through synodal authority and characterized by the pastoral principle of oikonomia rather than by a single universal code; the Oriental Orthodox Churches, for example the Armenian Apostolic Church and the Coptic Orthodox Church, likewise maintain their own canonical collections and disciplinary norms, though generally less systematized; the Anglican Communion, represented by bodies such as the Church of England or other provinces of the Anglican Communion, has Canon Law at the level of individual national churches, strongly influenced by civil law and lacking a universal, centralized legislative authority; by contrast, most Protestant Christian communities regulate ecclesial life through church orders or constitutions rather than through Canon Law in the strict sense, often viewing marriage primarily as a civil institution; however, a legislation as fully structured, comprehensive, and historically continuous as Catholic canon law, embodied in the Latin Code of Canon Law and in the Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches, does not exist elsewhere with the same depth of development, unity of structure, and juridical-sacramental coherence.

MC: For young students who wish to learn more about the Catholic Canon Law tradition, are there any texts that you would suggest they read?

FJC: For young students who wish to become acquainted with the Catholic canonical legal tradition, a solid and progressive reading path should begin with the Code of Canon Law, read directly and especially its general norms, ecclesiological structure, and procedural law, complemented by the reform introduced by Mitis Iudex Dominus Iesus and the procedural instruction Dignitas Connubii, which together provide the normative and pastoral framework of contemporary matrimonial justice; alongside these sources, classical and modern manuals such as those by Joaquín Llobell and Manuel Jesús Arroba Conde help students understand the structure of canonical procedure, moral certainty, proof, and the motivation of judgments, while works on matrimonial consent and anthropology, for example by Carlos José Errázuriz, clarify the substantive law of marriage; finally, a careful study of selected jurisprudence of the Rota Romana and regular consultation of specialized canonical journals allow students to learn how the law is applied in practice, always keeping together legal rigor, theological foundations, and the ultimate aim of the salus animarum.

MC: Father Castrejon, thank you for your time.

FJC: It was my pleasure.