The Pontifical Council for Legislative Texts is a dicastery of the Roman Curia. Its work "consists mainly in interpreting the laws of the Church".. It is distinct from the highest tribunal or court in the Church, which is the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura, and does not have law-making authority to the degree the Pope and the Holy See's tribunals do. Its charge is the interpretation of existing canon laws, and it works closely with the Signatura and the other Tribunals and the Pope. Like the Signatura and the other two final appellate Tribunals, the Roman Rota and the Apostolic Penitentiary, it is led by a prefect who is a bishop or archbishop. The current President of the Pontifical Council is Archbishop Filippo Iannone, the current Secretary is Bishop Juan Ignacio Arrieta Ochoa de Chinchetru.
History and field of competence
On 14 May 1904, Pope Pius X created the Commission for the Codification of Canon Law. It produced the 1917 Code of Canon Law, promulgated by Pope Benedict XV on 27 May 1917 to take effect on 19 May 1918. Pope Benedict then established the Pontifical Commission for Authentic Interpretation of the Code of Canon Law on 5 September 1917. On 28 March 1963, Pope John XXIII replaced it with the Pontifical Commission for the Revision of the Code of Canon Law, a revision called for by the Second Vatican Council. On 11 July 1967, Pope Paul VI established the Pontifical Commission for Interpretation of the Decrees of the Second Vatican Council and, two years later, extended its mandate to the interpretation of the documents issued by the Holy See to implement those decrees. After promulgating a new version of the Code of Canon Law in January 1983, Pope John Paul II erected the Pontifical Commission for Authentic Interpretation of the Code of Canon Law once again on 2 January 1984. Its competence included with the universal laws for the Latin Rite within its purview. This Commission replaced those set up by his two predecessors. On 28 June 1988, the body was given its present name and its jurisdiction in the apostolic constitutionPastor Bonus. On 18 October 1990, its competence was extended to interpreting the Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches and the laws shared in common by the Eastern Catholic Churches.
Presidents
; Pontifical Commission for Authentic Interpretation of the Code of Canon Law
Pietro Gasparri
Luigi Sincero
Giulio Serafini
Massimo Massimi
Pietro Ciriaci
; Pontifical Commission for the Revision of the Code of Canon Law
