After reading this very enjoyable article, I wondered how well Augustine would have fit into the post V2 church but would have been challenged by the stricter controlling church prior to V2. It also occurred to me that perhaps much of Canon law was not present during his lifetime. I found this on wiki, "The first Code of Canon Law (1917) was almost exclusively for the Latin Church, with extremely limited application to the Eastern Churches. After the Second Vatican Council, (1962 - 1965), another edition was published specifically for the Roman Rite in 1983." Catechism is also a relatively recent creation (from US Catholic.org), "In 1566 the so-called Roman Catechism was published in response to the request issued three years earlier by the Council of Trent. Used until 1978, it inspired, as intended, the creation of many national catechisms."

Most of church history is without catechism or canon law. It makes me wonder why either were needed; & maybe we were better off without.