‘Null, and void of all validity for ever’

By Jennifer Haselberger
Canonical Consultation
April 26, 2015

http://canonicalconsultation.com/blog.html

As a graduate student, my most valued and necessary possession (besides the rosary inscribed 'I am a Catholic. In case of emergency, call a priest' that was given to me by grandmother when I departed for what she considered to be the pagan land of Britain) was my British Library card. I also happened to live for a year near Runnymede, which is why I listened with interest to news reports of the opening of the new exhibit at the British Library Gallery 'Magna Carta: Law, Liberty, and Legacy'. The exhibit is unique in that not only is the Magna Carta on display in London, but also Thomas Jefferson's handwritten Declaration of Independence. What piqued my interest, however, was another document on display- Pope Innocent III's papal bull invalidating the Magna Carta, issued in August of 1215, a mere three months after the 'great charter' was agreed to by King John and his warring barons.

It should come as no surprise to us that the Holy See was opposed to the agreement that has become the foundation of many modern constitutions and a cornerstone of our understanding of individual rights. The ideas that were contained therein, including that no one, including the King, is above the law, that no one could be taxed without the agreement of established stakeholders, and that all free men have the right to justice and a fair trial, can scarcely be imagined to be palatable to an autocrat who himself held power even over the King. What did surprise me, however, is that 800 years after Pope Innocent III declared the Magna Carta to be ‘illegal, unjust, harmful to royal rights and shameful to the English people’, the Catholic Church is again asserting its rights above those granted by legislative assembly. 

I am tempted to link to some of the amicus briefs the USCCB has filed with the Supreme Court during the past ten years, but instead I will keep things closer to home. For, the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis recently asked federal bankruptcy judge Robert Kressel to set a bar date, or a filing deadline, of August 3 for victims seeking compensation from the Archdiocese for sexual abuse perpetrated by its clergy. This is nearly 9-months earlier than the civil window opened by the Minnesota legislature in 2013, which gives victims until May of 2016 to file a civil suit, regardless of when their abuse occurred. According to news reports, the Archdiocese feels the bar date will assist it in filing a timely reorganization plan, with less cost. Attorneys for victims argue that survivors of abuse in the Archdiocese should be given the same amount of time to file claims as survivors in other parts of the state.

Decisions taken in federal bankruptcy court preempt state law, much as Pope Innocent III, as overlord of England and Ireland, could invalidate charters entered into by King John and his barons. And, the effects on those whom the laws were meant to protect are also the same. The Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis is in bankruptcy court (like King John and his rebellion) because of the failures of its leaders, past and present. That the burden of these failures should once again fall upon the shoulders of those who have been sexually abused by clergy, and who now could very well lose their opportunity for justice, not to mention a fair trial, is as disheartening now as the papal bull was then. Perhaps 800 years from now these will be the documents on display.