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{{short description|Body of written legal decisions and rulings}}
{{Italic title}}
'''''Responsa''''' (plural of [[Latin]]: plural of {{lang|la|responsum}}, 'answer') comprise a body of written decisions and rulings given by [[legal scholar]]s in response to questions addressed to them. In the modern era, the term is used to describe decisions and rulings made by scholars in historic [[religious law]].
 
==In the Roman Empire==
[[Roman law]] recognised {{lang|la|responsa prudentium}}, i.e., the responses and thoughts of [[jurists]], as one of the sources of {{lang|la|[[ius scriptum]]}} (written law), along with laws originating from [[Roman magistrate|magistrates]], from the [[Roman Senate|Senate]], or from the [[Roman emperor|emperor]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=Roman law {{!}} Influence, Importance, Principles, & Facts {{!}} Britannica|url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Roman-law|access-date=2021-12-21|website=www.britannica.com|language=en|quote=The chief forms of imperial legislation were edicts or proclamations; instructions to subordinates, especially provincial governors; written answers to officials or others who consulted the emperor; and decisions of the emperor sitting as a judge.<br>The last type of written law was the ''responsa prudentium'', or answers to legal questions given by learned lawyers to those who consulted them.}}</ref>
 
A particularly well-known and highly influential example of such ''responsa'' was the ''Digesta'' (or ''Digests''), in 90 books, the principal work of the prominent Secondsecond Centurycentury jurist [[Salvius Julianus]]. This was a systematic treatise on civil and [[praetor]]ian law, consisting of responsa on real and hypothetical cases, cited by many later Roman legal writers.<ref>"Salvius Iulianus" in Adolf Berger, ''Encyclopedic Dictionary of Roman Law'', American Philosophical Society, 1953, p. 552</ref>
 
==In the Roman Catholic Church==
<!-- "Dubium" and "Dubia" redirect here. See [[MOS:HIDDENLINKADVICE]]. -->
In the Roman Catholic Church, a responsum is an answer given by the [[Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith]] on certain matters pertaining to faith and morals. The Holy Office is the sole and exclusive doctrinal organization which has the right to give responsa. Recent doctrinal documents which contain relevant responsa are Commentary on Responsa ad quaestiones,<ref>[http://www.vatican.edu/roman_curia/congregations/cfaith/documents/rc_con_cfaith_doc_20070629_commento-responsa_en.html Commentary on Responsa ad quaestiones]</ref> Responsum ad Dubium Concerning the Teaching Contained in Ordinatio Sacerdotalis<ref>[http://www.ourladyswarriors.org/teach/ordisace2.htm Responsum ad Dubium Concerning the Teaching Contained in Ordinatio Sacerdotalis]</ref> and Responses to Certain Questions of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops Concerning Artificial Nutrition and Hydration.<ref>[https://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/cfaith/documents/rc_con_cfaith_doc_20070801_risposte-usa_en.html Responses to Certain Questions of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops Concerning Artificial Nutrition and Hydration]</ref>
 
In the [[Catholic Church]], ''responsa'' are answers of the competent executive authority to specific questions (in Latin, '''''dubia''''', literally "doubts") sent by [[Catholic bishops]] to the [[Holy See]]. ''Responsa'' given by the [[Pontifical Council for Legislative Texts]] which are [[Promulgation (Catholic canon law)|promulgated]] as authentic interpretation have the force of law as per [[Canon (canon law)|canon]] 16 §2 of the [[1983 Code of Canon Law|1983 ''Code of Canon Law'']]. Other ''responsa'' cannot have this binding force, but nevertheless possess a high authority.<ref name=":1">{{Cite book|last=Berkmann|first=Burkhard Josef|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZK73DwAAQBAJ&dq=authority+responsa+catholic+church&pg=PT121|title=The Internal Law of Religions: Introduction to a Comparative Discipline|date=2020-09-22|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-000-17926-2|language=en|chapter=5. Methods of comparative law of religions - 5.4.1 Example: sources of law}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=Bullivant |first=Stephen |date=2016-11-24 |title=Submitting dubia is a standard part of Church life. It's not unreasonable to expect a clear answer |url=https://catholicherald.co.uk/submitting-dubia-is-a-standard-part-of-church-life-its-not-unreasonable-to-expect-a-clear-answer/ |access-date=2021-12-20 |website=Catholic Herald |language=en-GB}}</ref>
 
Some ''responsa'' are given in ''[[Notitiae]]'',<ref>{{Cite web|title=Notitiae Responses|url=http://notitiae.ipsissima-verba.org/|access-date=2021-12-20|website=notitiae.ipsissima-verba.org}}</ref> the official journal of the [[Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments]] (CDW). The ''responsa'' given in ''Notitiae'' are, according to the CDW, to be considered only as private responses unless they are published in official legal records of the Holy See.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Pentin|first=Edward|date=February 8, 2022|title=Traditional Latin Mass: Canonists Question the Legislative Force of Recent Vatican Guidelines|url=https://www.ncregister.com/news/traditional-latin-mass-canonists-question-the-legislative-force-of-recent-vatican-guidelines|access-date=2022-02-10|website=NCR|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |date=1969 |title=[no title] |url=http://notitiae.ipsissima-verba.org/pdf/notitiae-1969-323-323.pdf |journal=[[Notitiae]] |volume=5 |pages=323 |quote=Solutiones quae proponuntur non induunt vestem officialem, sed habent valorem orientativum: solutiones 'ex officio' publici iuris fient in Acta Apostolicae Sedis}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |date=1997 |title=Responsa ad dubia proposita |url=http://notitiae.ipsissima-verba.org/pdf/notitiae-1997-138-138.pdf |journal=[[Notitiae]] |volume=33 |pages=138 |quote=Licet solutiones quae proponuntur potestatem legislativam non habeant, induunt tamen vestem officialem quia actuale magisterium et praxim huius Congregationis exprimunt}}</ref>
 
==In Judaism==
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{{Main| History of responsa in Judaism}}
{{Further|Oral Torah|Halakha|Posek}}
In [[rabbinic literature]], the '''Responsa'responsa'' are known as ''She'elot u-Teshuvot'' ({{lang-he|שאלות ותשובות}} "questions and answers"), and comprise the body of written decisions and rulings given by [[Posek|poskim]] ("deciders of Jewish law"). A modern term, used mainly for questions on the [[internet]], is "[[Ask the rabbi]]".
 
Judaism's responsa constitute a special class of [[rabbinic literature]], to be distinguished from the [[Rabbinic literature#Meforshim|commentaries]] (''meforshim'')—devoted to the exegesis of the [[Tanakh|Hebrew Bible]], the [[Mishnah]], the [[Talmud]]—and from [[Halakha#Codes of Jewish law|the codes of law]] which delineate the rules for ordinary incidents of life.
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==In Islam==
A similar use of responsa (here called [[fatwā]]) is found in [[Islam]].<ref name=":1" />
{{multiple issues|
{{Unreferenced section|date=June 2007}}
{{Expert-subject|Islam|date=November 2008}}
}}
A similar use of responsa (here called [[fatwā]]) is found in [[Islam]]. The [[mufti]] is a member of the Islamic scholarly class ([[ulamā]]) who form the Muslim religious establishment. In Islam, the term muftī is largely restricted to [[Sunni]]sm, and has both a formal and informal use, the former for state-appointed officials who gave rulings on matters concerning the state or the public, the latter for individuals who respond to their followers or to others.
 
In [[Shia]]ism, fatwa is also used. Personal devotion to specific clergy is mandatory for believers. High-ranking members of the [[ulama]] class achieve the status of [[marja'|marjaʿ al-taqlīd]] (pl. marājiʿ), that is, "the point to which imitation returns": in other words, they pronounce on religious matters, especially legal ones, and the rest of mankind are [[muqallid]] or imitators, who do nothing without the mandate of their specific marjaʿ. There are very few marājiʿ at any time, though on a number of occasions since the 19th century, the title has come to rest on a single individual for the entire Shia world. There are larger numbers of Shia clergy with the rank of [[mujtahid]], who are empowered to give independent opinions on religious matters. Traditionally, as in Judaism, the answers of marājiʿ and mujtahid are collected in a compilation called ''Risāla-yi su'āl va javāb'' ([[Farsi]]) or "Epistle of Questions and Answers."
 
There is generally greater latitude for Shia ulamā, insofar as the principle of independent reasoning (''[[ijtihād]]'', from the same root as ''mujtahid'') in matters of religious law remains valid in Shi'i jurisprudence, whereas it is deemed{{by whom|date=June 2018}} to have ended in Sunnism as far back as the 10th century.{{citation needed|date=June 2018}}
 
==See also==
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* [[Rescript]]
 
==Notes References ==
<references />
 
==External links==
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Responsa"