The Formation of the Concept of a Hermit, or an Anchorite, in the Light of the Latin Church Law Codification After the Second Vatican Council

Abstract

The subject of the article is the formation of the concept of a hermit or an anchorite in thelight of the codification of the Latin Church law after Vatican II. In canon 603 CIC/83, the legislator uses two terms of a hermit and anchorite, which when used interchangeably have a rich semantics as presented by the author, going back to Christian antiquity. CIC/17 did not normalize the canonical status of eremitic life in the Latin Church. It was not until the period of codification after Vatican II that a canonical norm governing eremitic life was formed. As a result of codification work, eremitic life was recognized by canon 603 CIC/83 as one of the forms of individual consecrated life. In modern times, both in the Byzantine and Latin traditions, eremitic life is flourishing attracting both men and women.