The purpose of this article is to show the nature and legal requirements of the will for the benefit of churches or pious works. The conclusion reached in these considerations is that post-classical roman law, although it did not recognize the legal personality of the Catholic Church, guaranteed the particular ecclesial communities and pious works run by the Church wide access to material goods, by way of testamentary universal succession, as well as testamentary succession under particular title. This was made possible through the recognition of ecclesial communities and charities as legal entities having testamenti factio passiva by Roman law. Wills benefiting churches or pious works necessitated, for their validity, abiding by all of the formal requirements for making a declaration of intent, in particular the presence of seven witnesses, regardless of whether the declaration was oral or written. As such, wills benefitting churches or pious works were not considered under Roman law to be privileged in form. It was Pope Alexander III who first challenged the requirement of the presence of seven witnesses. Since then, canon law treated wills for the benefit of churches or pious works as a privileged kind of will, whose validity required the presence of only two witnesses. Thus, this type of will was an institution present in both legal orders, but only received its privileged nature in medieval canon law.

The seal of confession in a criminal trial vs revocation of the authority to administer the sacrament of penance in canon law

The article addresses the hitherto under-researched issue of the seal of confession in the criminal trial in the context of revoking the authority to administer the sacrament of penance in canon law. It turns out that the regulations of canon law and criminal trial are consistent in guaranteeing the inviolability of the seal of confession, known as the ‘sacramental seal’. Secrecy does not apply if the confessor is not a priest since only a priest can validly administer this sacrament. The article’s considerations also deal with other subjective and objective issues that have impact on seal of confession in canon law and criminal trial.