Procesos De Nulidad Matrimonial: La Instruccion Dignitas Connubii, by R. Rodríguez-Ocaña and J. Sedano (review)

nourish faith and provide vision and values for these workers. She stresses the need for religious institutes to provide formation for the laity in light of the declining numbers of their own members. The authors leave the reader with an appreciation of religious institutes and their innumerable contributions to the mission of the Church through sponsored works. Likewise, they inform as to the civil and canonical norms that order and protect such institutions. On the whole, the book demonstrates the fine balance between the spiritual values, reserved powers, and consistency in the sponsoring religious institutes vis- à-vis the flexibility needed in the sponsored works to afford competent persons opportunities to employ their gifts and perform services with creativity, alacrity, and competence. The book is a fine introduction to the concept of sponsorship. Perhaps the authors will consider a second text addressing various unions and mergers of sponsored works and the civil and canonical implications attending such restructurings. These reconfigurations are presently taking place to meet the needs of people with great prudence and accountability onthepartofreligiousinstitutes.Majorsuperiors,canonists,civillawyers and other interested persons will welcome this text and anticipate a future one offering an analysis and evaluation of such developments. Rose McDermott, S.S.J. School of Canon Law Catholic University of America Washington, D.C. PROCESOS DE NULIDAD MATRIMONIAL: LA INSTRUCCION DIGNITAS CONNUBII, by R. Rodríguez-Ocaña and J. Sedano. Navarre,Spain:EdicionesUniversidadde Navarra,SA(EUNSA),2006. Pp. 465. This book consists of the Acts of the Twenty-fourth Course in Canon Law by the Canon Law Faculty of the University of Navarra held in 2005. It contains papers presented by various authors, as well as an Appendix containing a bilingual (Latin-Spanish) text of Dignitas connubii (DC). Although each of the authors had been assigned a certain section of the Instruction, the present volume is not an article-by-article combook reviews 803 804 the jurist mentary. Often theoretical, it tends to highlight certain portions of the Instruction to the exclusion of others. Generally well-footnoted, the volume suffers from an uneven treatment of the subject, as might be expected in a compilation such as this. After a brief general introduction by Franz Daneels, Javier Otaduy provides a very detailed and useful analysis of the normative principle of DC, arguing that it is a re-ordering of the procedural law, not merely an instruction. He offers an insightful analysis of the parts of DC which are iuxta legem, praeter legem, and contra legem. His comments would be well worth reading by any serious student of the law. In discussing Titles I–III of the Instruction, Panizo Orallo presents four aspects: 1) a personalism rooted in the Second Vatican Council; 2) pastorality; 3) judicial freedom; and 4) the need for a judicial formalism that adapts itself to each time and culture, but does not descend into subjectivism. He then highlights various sections of DC: the competent forum; the delegation of judicial functions; and the discipline to be observed in tribunals. Morán Bustos sets out to present the novelties in DC: those who lack the use of reason, the feeble-minded, minors, and the designation of a curator . Unfortunately, he also engages in a ten-page diversion concerning impugning a marriage after the death of a spouse and third party interventions in a case. However, he provides a well-footnoted historical summary of the right to accuse a marriage which would be valuable to anyone doing research in this area. Rodríguez-Ocaña compares Provida mater, the Code of Canon Law, and DC regarding the introduction of the cause and the cessation of the instance. His comparison between the CIC and DC in the areas of the petition , the citation and notification of the parties, the formulation of the doubt, the absence of the parties, and the cessation of the instance by death, neglect, renunciation, and abatement is particularly useful, especially for those who teach the law. Gil de las Heras treats proofs, incidental causes, publication and conclusion , highlighting twenty different areas of DC, while paying particular attention to nuances and additions to CIC. Despite extensive footnotes, the presentation of Llobel on the juridic weight of DC...