Category talk:Commentarii Pontificum (Nova Roma)

Decreta & Responsa : Commentary

A. d. VII Kal. Qui. K. Buteone Po. Minucia cos. ‡ MMDCCLIX a.u.c. on the ReligioRomana e-mail list (message 8854 in the archive) A. Apollonius asked about decreta and responsa:

Is this intended to be a technical distinction and, if so, what do the pontifices intend the terms to mean?

Q. Metellus pontifex replied (message 8855):

Simply, [decreta] carry specific legal implications, per the lex constitutiva. [A responsum] however, does not carry any specific legal implications, and is simply a statement by the College on a given topic (i.e., a response).

As things go on, however, I think we will be seeing more responsa and less decreta, though only time can tell.