Pope adjusts canon law appeal period for members of religious orders

Pope Francis made small changes to canon law, giving them more time to appeal their dismissals saying he wanted to protect the rights of members of religious orders facing expulsion.

The changes, announced by the Vatican apply to both the Code of Canon Law for Latin-rite Catholics and to the Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches.

Even when a serious reason motivates the dismissal of a member of a religious order, canon law gives that person a right to know the reasons, to offer a defense and to appeal a decision.

The current Latin-rite code said that for a decree of dismissal to be valid, it "must indicate the right which the dismissed possesses to make recourse to the competent authority within 10 days from receiving notification."

A similar paragraph in the code for Eastern-rite Catholics gave a period of 15 days for the person to appeal.

Pope Francis ordered the change of both codes to give a person 30 days to appeal. The change goes into effect from May 7.