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Canonists and Standards of Impartiality for Papal Judges Delegate

1969; Cambridge University Press; Volume: 25; Linguagem: Inglês

10.1017/s0362152900011077

2166-5508

Richard H. Helmholz,

Religious Freedom and Discrimination

In Act II, scene iv of Shakespeare's Henry VIII , Queen Catherine is confronted by the start of divorce proceedings against her. One of the two cardinals delegated as judges by the pope is Henry's faithful servant, Cardinal Wolsey, a man little likely to be an impartial judge of the legal merits of the famous case. And so the Queen says to him: I do believe Induced by potent circumstances, that You are mine enemy, and make my challenge You shall not be my judge. Shakespeare does not today enjoy a wide reputation as a canonist, but he has here described with some correctness the canonical recusatio. This is the right, under certain circumstances, to challenge and remove a papal judge delegate for interest, prejudice, or unfitness for office.