Esteemed canon lawyer, educator and writer James Coriden brings his more than forty years' experience to this book that offers a bold and refreshing vision of the role of law within the Catholic Church-not as an instrument of control but as a guide and guarantee of freedom for individual believers. Coriden argues that church law is primarily a ministry within the church, a ministry that ought to serve freedom first and good order second. He views "church" as a local community situated within specific cultural, economic and political circumstances. And a law that serves global order while ignoring the needs of the local church runs the risk of trampling on freedom and undermining the peace of the church. This informed and passionate argument for canon law as a ministry rather than as an instrument of control in today's church will be food for thought for: * canon lawyers and those who shape church law * all persons, inside and outside the church who are concerned about the role of law and institutional reform * interested persons in the pew † Canon Law as Ministry is an approach to issues in canon law, which promotes the rights and liberty of Christians. -- Commonweal This book is an excellent interplay of ecclesiology, canon law and pastoral theology. -- Touchstone James A. Coriden, who holds degrees from the Gregorian University in Rome, and from the Catholic University of America, is professor of canon Law and dean emeritus of the Washington Theological Union in Washington, DC. A priest, ordained for the Diocese of Gary, his is one of the three general editors of the New Commentary on the Code of Canon Law and the author of An Introduction to Canon Law and The Parish in Catholic Tradition.