Thesiss

This paper studies in detail the canon 1682 of the Code of Canon law, promulgated in 1983. The canon prescribes that Ecclesiastical Tribunals must, in all cases, confirm any sentence which first declares a marriage null. In order to shorten the duration of the process, the Code …

This dissertation focuses upon the use of handlaying as an initiatory rite among early Western Churches up to the point preceding the Carolingian reforms in the eighth century. The study begins by surveying the various types of handlaying rites revealed in Graeco-Roman literatur…

The introduction of confirmation into Judaism illustrates psychosocial dynamics of ritual innovation during a time of intense societal change. The years of 1807-1813 that comprised the Kingdom of Westphalia, birthplace of Jewish confirmation, was such a time. Responding to the E…