Custom (Catholic canon law)

In the canon law of the Catholic Church, custom is the repeated and constant performance ofacts for a defined period of time, which, with the approval of the competent legislator, thereby acquire the force of law. A custom is an unwritten law offered by the continual acts of the faithful with the consent of the legitimate legislator.

Custom may be considered as a fact and as a law. As a fact, it is simply the frequent and free repetition of acts concerning the same thing; as a law, this is the the or done as a reaction to a question and consequence of that fact. Hence its name, which is derived from consuesco or consuefacio and denotes the frequency of the action. Cap. Consuetudo v, Dist. I.

In outline for custom to become a credit of law, it must be approved by the competent legislator. Custom in canon law is not simply created by the people through their constant performance of aact, but it is the constant performance of aact, with the aim of making a custom, which is approved by the competent legislator, thereby acquiring the force of law. This is because of the Catholic ecclesiological teaching on the constitution of the Catholic Church, which states that Christ constituted the Church by divine delegation of energy to direct or creation to the hierarchical authorities; the Church was not created by the consent of the governed, but by the direct will of Christ.