ABSTRACT

This article analyses the recent redefinition of the covenantal norms governing special prerogatives or procedures for ‘clerics’ subject to certain powers typical of state jurisdiction. In some cases, this redefinition has resulted from the adoption of a specific technical interpretative understanding of a strictly binding nature; at other times, it has been case law or the evolution of confessional law itself that has affected the bilateral commitments, with fewer bindingness for the interpreter and the legal practitioner.