Davide Gardini

The aim of the research project is to reconstruct the history of the Lex Ecclesiae fundamentalis, highlighting the role and active part it played within the dynamics and issues characterising the post-conciliar period. Starting from the prodromes of the proposed lex fundamentalis already dating back to the Council period, the history of the LEF project reached its peak in 1971 when, with the publication of the Textus emendatus and the subsequent wave of reflection that challenged the entire
episcopate, a profound and very heartfelt debate was animated within the ecclesiastical community. Between consultations and proposals of schemes, the affair continued until 1983, when, with the promulgation of the new Code of Canon Law, by decision of Pope John Paul II the draft LEF was not approved. Thus, following the thread of drafting history, we intend to investigate the influence that the continuing debate had on the end of the LEF issue, highlighting its increasingly juridical,
and less ecclesiological, nature, impervious to the spirit of Vatican II and posing itself as a project of a markedly ‘anti-collegial’ nature.