There are many legal abbreviations commonly used by canonists in the canon law of the Catholic Church. However, there is no single system of uniform citation, and so individual publishers and even the standard authors sometimes diverge on usage. This page includes citations, even if duplicative, commonly used in canonical scholarship and doctrine. Latin incipits and document titles have been italicized, while Latin words, phrases, official titles, and dicasterial names have not been so italicized.
Symbol §—paragraph §§—paragraphs °—number
0-9 17/CIC—1917 Codex Iuris Canonici 1917 CIC—1917 Codex Iuris Canonici 1983 CIC—1983 Codex Iuris Canonici
A AAS—Acta Apostolicae Sedis ADCOV—Acta et Documenta Concilio Oecumenico Vaticano II apparando AL—Amoris Laetitia Ap.—apostolic Ap. const—apostolic constitution Art.—article or articulus Arts.—articles or articuli Artt.—articles or articuli ASS—Acta Sanctae Sedis
B C c.—canon/canonum, or coram (see "cor." below) cc.—canons/canones CCEO—Codex Canonum Ecclesiarum Orientalium CDF—Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith or Congregatio pro Doctrina Fidei CDWDS—Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments ch.—chapter/caput chh.—chapters/capites CIC—Codex Iuris Canonici (may refer to 1917 code or 1983 code depending upon context) CIC/1917—Codex Iuris Canonici of 1917 CIC/1983—Codex Iuris Canonici of 1983 CICLSAL—Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life CLSA—Canon Law Society of America congr.—congregation (Roman Curia) cor.—coram, a (usually appellate) cause heard "in the presence of" an auditor of the Roman Rota
D Decr.—decretum DPM—ap. const. Divinus perfectionis Magister on the causes of saints DV—Defensor Vinculi or Dei verbum
E EP—Episcopal vicar
F G GS—Gaudium et spes
H I ICEL—International Commission on English in the LiturgyCoriden et al., A Text and Commentary p. xx ID—Indulgentiarum doctrina IM—Inter mirificaCoriden et al., A Text and Commentary p. xxi.
J J—The Jurist, published by the CUA School of Canon Law, 1940- JCB— Juris Canonici Baccalaureus JCD—Juris Canonici Doctor JCL—Juris Canonici Licentiatus JPE—Jus Publicum Ecclesiasticum JV—Judicial vicar
K L LEF—Lex Ecclesiæ Fundamentalis LG—Lumen gentium
M MP—motu proprio
N NCCB—National Conference of Catholic Bishops (previous name of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops) NEP—Nota explicativa praevia to ch. 3 of Lumen Gentium
O P PB—ap. const. Pastor Bonus PCLT—Pontifical Council for Legislative Texts PCILT—Pontifical Council for the Interpretation of Legislative Texts Pont. Max—Pontifex Maximus PP.—Papa, Latin for pope.
Q R RI—Regulæ Iuris (cf. RJ) RJ—Regulæ Juris (cf. RI) RR—Roman Replies and CLSA Advisory Opinions, published by the Canon Law Society of America (1981-1983 Roman Replies alone, combined with CLSA Advisory Opinions 1984-)Faris & Abbass, eds., A Practical Commentary, p. xxxii.
S S. Congr.—Sacred Congregation (the former name of Roman curial congregations before "sacred" was dropped in 1984 by the ap. const. Pastor Bonus) SCR—Sacred Congregation of Rites SRE—Sancta Romana Ecclesia SRR—Sacræ Rotæ Romanæ
T TRR—Tribunal of the Roman Rota
U UDG—Universi Dominici gregis USCCB—United States Conference of Catholic Bishops
V VDQ—Vultum Dei quaerere VG—Vicar general
W X Y Z References
Sources
Coriden, James et al., eds. The Code of Canon Law: A Text and Commentary (New York/Mahwah, NJ: Paulist Press, 1985) xviii-xxiii. Faris & Abbass, eds. A Practical Commentary to the Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches (Montréal: Librairie Wilson & Lafleur, 2019) xix-xxxiv.