Due to its unity, the church is dependent on a shared legal framework. Yet the global church’s law-making has to be revised to overcome its monocultural one-sidedness. As law in modernity is not acknowledged as being legitimate without the community’s participation, the church members have to participate in legislation. This is best achieved by representation. In a reform of canon law, the participation of different ecclesiastical statuses and cultures must be ensured. As questions of truth are involved, legislation should aim at consensus. Majorities, anyhow, can be understood as steps towards consensus. As majoritarian decision-making can be wrong, the bishops and the pope have to ensure that the law is in concordance with the Christian faith. Legislative acts must be explained. The lawgiver’s command is to be replaced by arguments convincing the faithful to consent to the law. This is related to the idea that canon law is only valid when received by the community. To protect canon law, the global church’s legislator is dependent on developing culturally sensitive law that may be accepted in the local churches. To prevent culturally unacceptable law from harming the local church, validity or effectiveness of global norms must be restricted in cases of conflicts by instruments of legal flexibility (bishop’s right to remonstrate, dispensation, epikeia and equity).