Can. 1254 §1 The catholic Church has the inherent right, independently
of any secular power, to acquire, retain, administer and alienate temporal goods,
in pursuit of its proper objectives.
§2 These proper objectives are principally the regulation of divine worship,
the provision of fitting support for the clergy and other ministers, and the
carrying out of works of the sacred apostolate and of charity, especially for
the needy.
Can. 1255 The universal Church, as well as the Apostolic See, particular
Churches and all other public and private juridical persons are capable of acquiring,
retaining, administering and alienating temporal goods, in accordance with the
law.
Can. 1256 Under the supreme authority of the Roman Pontiff, ownership
of goods belongs to that juridical person which has lawfully acquired them.
Can. 1257 §1 All temporal goods belonging to the universal Church,
to the Apostolic See or to other public juridical persons in the Church, are
ecclesiastical goods and are regulated by the canons which follow, as well as
by their own statutes.
§2 Unless it is otherwise expressly provided, temporal goods belonging
to a private juridical person are regulated by its own statutes, not by these
canons.
Can. 1258 In the canons which follow, the term Church signifies not only
the universal Church or the Apostolic See, but also any public juridical person
in the Church, unless the contrary is clear from the context or from the nature
of the matter.
Can. 1259 The Church may acquire temporal goods in any way in which,
by either natural or positive law, it is lawful for others to do this.
Can. 1260 The Church has the inherent right to require from the faithful
whatever is necessary for its proper objectives.
Can. 1261 §1 The faithful have the right to donate temporal goods
for the benefit of the Church.
§2 The diocesan Bishop is bound to remind the faithful of the obligation
mentioned in Can. 222 §1, and in an appropriate manner to urge it.
Can. 1262 The faithful are to give their support to the Church in response
to appeals and in accordance with the norms laid down by the Episcopal Conference.
Can. 1263 The diocesan Bishop, after consulting the finance committee
and the council of priests, has the right to levy on public juridical persons
subject to his authority a tax for the needs of the diocese. This tax must be
moderate and proportionate to their income. He may impose an extraordinary and
moderate tax on other physical and juridical persons only in a grave necessity
and under the same conditions, but without prejudice to particular laws and
customs which may give him greater rights.
Can. 1264 Unless the law prescribes otherwise, it is for the provincial
Bishops’ meeting to:
1° determine the taxes, to be approved by the Apostolic See, for acts of
executive authority which grant a favour, or for the execution of rescripts
from the Apostolic See;
2° determine the offerings on the occasion of the administration of the
sacraments and sacramentals.
Can. 1265 §1 Without prejudice to the right of mendicant religious,
all private juridical or physical persons are forbidden to make a collection
for any pious or ecclesiastical institute or purpose without the written permission
of their proper Ordinary and of the local Ordinary.
§2 The Episcopal Conference can draw up rules regarding collections, which
must be observed by all, including those who from their foundation are called
and are ‘mendicants’.
Can. 1266 §1 In all churches and oratories regularly open to Christ’s
faithful, including those belonging to religious institutes, the local Ordinary
may order that a special collection be taken up for specified parochial, diocesan,
national or universal initiatives. The collection must afterwards be carefully
forwarded to the diocesan curia.
Can. 1267 §1 Unless the contrary is clear, offerings made to Superiors
or administrators of any ecclesiastical juridical person, even a private one,
are presumed to have been made to the juridical person itself.
§2 If there is question of a public juridical person, the offerings mentioned
in §1 cannot be refused except for a just reason and, in matters of greater
importance, with the permission of the Ordinary. Without prejudice to the provisions
of Can. 1295, the permission of the Ordinary is also required for the acceptance
of offerings to which are attached some qualifying obligation or condition.
§3 Offerings given by the faithful for a specified purpose may be used
only for that purpose.
Can. 1268 The Church recognises prescription, in accordance with Cann.
197 199, as a means both of acquiring temporal goods and of being freed from
their obligations.
Can. 1269 Sacred objects in private ownership may be acquired by private
persons by prescription, but they may not be used for secular purposes unless
they have lost their dedication or blessing. If, however, they belong to a public
ecclesiastical juridical person, they may be acquired only by another public
ecclesiastical juridical person.
Can. 1270 Immovable goods, precious movable goods, rights and legal claims,
whether personal or real, which belong to the Apostolic See, are prescribed
after a period of one hundred years. For those goods which belong to another
public ecclesiastical juridical person, the period for prescription is thirty
years.
Can. 1271 By reason of their bond of unity and charity, and according
to the resources of their dioceses, Bishops are to join together to produce
those means which the Apostolic See may from time to time need to exercise properly
its service of the universal Church.
Can. 1272 In those regions where benefices properly so called still exist,
it is for the Episcopal Conference to regulate such benefices by appropriate
norms, agreed with and approved by the Apostolic See. The purpose of these norms
is that the income and as far as possible the capital itself of the benefice
should by degrees be transferred to the fund mentioned in Can. 1274 §1.
Can. 1273 The Roman Pontiff, by virtue of his primacy of governance,
is the supreme administrator and steward of all ecclesiastical goods.
Can. 1274 §1 In every diocese there is to be a special fund which
collects offerings and temporal goods for the purpose of providing, in accordance
with Can. 281, for the support of the clergy who serve the diocese, unless they
are otherwise catered for.
§2 Where there is as yet no properly organised system of social provision
for the clergy, the Episcopal Conference is to see that a fund is established
which will furnish adequate social security for them.
§3 To the extent that it is required, a common reserve is to be established
in every diocese by which the Bishop is enabled to fulfil his obligations towards
other persons who serve the Church and to meet various needs of the diocese,
this can also be the means by which wealthier dioceses may help poorer ones.
§4 Depending on differing local circumstances, the purposes described in
§§2 and 3 might better be achieved by amalgamating various diocesan
funds, or by cooperation between various dioceses, or even by setting up a suitable
association for them, or indeed for the whole territory of the Episcopal Conference
itself.
§5 If possible, these funds are to be established in such a manner that
they will have standing also in the civil law.
Can. 1275 A reserve set up by a number of different dioceses is to be
administered according to norms opportunely agreed upon by the Bishops concerned.
Can. 1276 §1 Ordinaries must carefully supervise the administration
of all the goods which belong to public juridical persons subject to them, without
prejudice to lawful titles which may give the Ordinary greater rights.
§2 Taking into account rights, lawful customs and the circumstances, Ordinaries
are to regulate the whole matter of the administration of ecclesiastical goods
by issuing special instructions, within the limits of universal and particular
law.
Can. 1277 In carrying out acts of administration which, in the light
of the financial situation of the diocese, are of major importance, the diocesan
Bishop must consult the finance committee and the college of consultors. For
acts of extraordinary administration, except in cases expressly provided for
in the universal law or stated in the documents of foundation, the diocesan
Bishop needs the consent of the committee and of the college of consultors.
It is for the Episcopal Conference to determine what are to be regarded as acts
of extraordinary administration.
Can. 1278 Besides the duties mentioned in Can. 494 §§3 and
4, the diocesan Bishop may also entrust to the financial administrator the duties
mentioned in Can. 1276 §1 and Can. 1279 §2.
Can. 1279 §1 The administration of ecclesiastical goods pertains
to the one with direct power of governance over the person to whom the goods
belong, unless particular law or statutes or legitimate custom state otherwise,
and without prejudice to the right of the Ordinary to intervene where there
is negligence on the part of the administrator.
§2 Where no administrators are appointed for a public juridical person
by law or by the documents of foundation or by its own statutes, the Ordinary
to which it is subject is to appoint suitable persons as administrators for
a three year term. The same persons can be re appointed by the Ordinary.
Can. 1280 Every juridical person is to have its own finance committee,
or at least two counsellors, who are to assist in the performance of the administrator’s
duties, in accordance with the statutes.
Can. 1281 §1 Without prejudice to the provisions of the statutes
administrators act invalidly when they go beyond the limits and manner of ordinary
administration, unless they have first received in writing from the Ordinary
the faculty to do so.
§2 The statutes are to determine what acts go beyond the limits and manner
of ordinary administration. If the statutes are silent on this point, it is
for the diocesan Bishop, after consulting the finance committee, to determine
these acts for the persons subject to him.
§3 Except and insofar as it is to its benefit, a juridical person is not
held responsible for the invalid actions of its administrators. The juridical
person is, however, responsible when such actions are valid but unlawful, without
prejudice to its right to bring an action or have recourse against the administrators
who have caused it damage.
Can. 1282 All persons, whether clerics or laity, who lawfully take part
in the administration of ecclesiastical goods, are bound to fulfil their duties
in the name of the Church, in accordance with the law.
Can. 1283 Before administrators undertake their duties:
1° they must take an oath, in the presence of the Ordinary or his delegate,
that they will well and truly perform their office;
2° they are to draw up a clear and accurate inventory, to be signed by themselves,
of all immovable goods, of those movable goods which are precious or of a high
cultural value, and of all other goods, with a description and an estimate of
their value; when this has been compiled, it is to be certified as correct;
3° one copy of this inventory is to be kept in the administration office
and another in the curial archive; any change which takes place in the property
is to be noted on both copies.
Can. 1284 §1 All administrators are to perform their duties with
the diligence of a good householder.
§2 Therefore they must:
1° be vigilant that no goods placed in their care in any way perish or suffer
damage; to this end they are, to the extent necessary, to arrange insurance
contracts;
2° ensure that the ownership of ecclesiastical goods is safeguarded in ways
which are valid in civil law;
3° observe the provisions of canon and civil law, and the stipulations of
the founder or donor or lawful authority; they are to take special care that
damage will not be suffered by the Church through the non observance of the
civil law;
4° seek accurately and at the proper time the income and produce of the
goods, guard them securely and expend them in accordance with the wishes of
the founder or lawful norms;
5° at the proper time pay the interest which is due by reason of a loan
or pledge, and take care that in due time the capital is repaid;
6° with the consent of the Ordinary make use of money which is surplus after
payment of expenses and which can be profitably invested for the purposes of
the juridical person;
7° keep accurate records of income and expenditure;
8° draw up an account of their administration at the end of each year;
9° keep in order and preserve in a convenient and suitable archive the documents
and records establishing the rights of the Church or institute to its goods;
where conveniently possible, authentic copies must be placed in the curial archives.
§3 It is earnestly recommended that administrators draw up each year a
budget of income and expenditure. However, it is left to particular law to make
this an obligation and to determine more precisely how it is to be presented.
Can. 1285 Solely within the limits of ordinary administration, administrators
are allowed to make gifts for pious purposes or christian charity out of the
movable goods which do not form part of the stable patrimony.
Can. 1286 Administrators of temporal goods:
1° in making contracts of employment, are accurately to observe also, according
to the principles taught by the Church, the civil laws relating to labour and
social life
2° are to pay to those who work for them under contract a just and honest
wage which will be sufficient to provide for their needs and those of their
dependents.
Can. 1287 §1 Where ecclesiastical goods of any kind are not lawfully
withdrawn from the power of governance of the diocesan Bishop, their administrators,
both clerical and lay, are bound to submit each year to the local Ordinary an
account of their administration, which he is to pass on to his finance committee
for examination. Any contrary custom is reprobated.
§2 Administrators are to render accounts to the faithful concerning the
goods they have given to the Church, in accordance with the norms to be laid
down by particular law.
Can. 1288 Administrators are not to begin legal proceedings in the name
of a public juridical person, nor are they to contest them in a secular court,
without first obtaining the written permission of their proper Ordinary.
Can. 1289 Although they may not be bound to the work of administration
by virtue of an ecclesiastical office, administrators may not arbitrarily relinquish
the work they have undertaken. If they do so, and this occasions damage to the
Church, they are bound to restitution.
Can. 1290 Without prejudice to Can. 1547[ ], whatever the local civil
law decrees about contracts, both generally and specifically, and about the
voiding of contracts, is to be observed regarding goods which are subject to
the power of governance of the Church, and with the same effect, provided that
the civil law is not contrary to divine law, and that canon law does not provide
otherwise.
Can. 1291 The permission of the authority competent by law is required
for the valid alienation of goods which, by lawful assignment, constitute the
stable patrimony of a public juridical person, whenever their value exceeds
the sum determined by law.
Can. 1292 §1 Without prejudice to the provision of Can. 638 §3,
when the amount of the goods to be alienated is between the minimum and maximum
sums to be established by the Episcopal Conference for its region, the competent
authority in the case of juridical persons not subject to the diocesan Bishop
is determined by the juridical person’s own statutes. In other cases,
the competent authority is the diocesan Bishop acting with the consent of the
finance committee, of the college of consultors, and of any interested parties.
The diocesan Bishop needs the consent of these same persons to alienate goods
which belong to the diocese itself.
§2 The permission of the Holy See also is required for the valid alienation
of goods whose value exceeds the maximum sum, or if it is a question of the
alienation of something given to the Church by reason of a vow, or of objects
which are precious by reason of their artistic or historical significance.
§3 When a request is made to alienate goods which are divisible, the request
must state what parts have already been alienated; otherwise, the permission
is invalid.
§4 Those who must give advice about or consent to the alienation of goods
are not to give this advice or consent until they have first been informed precisely
both about the economic situation of the juridical person whose goods it is
proposed to alienate and about alienations which have already taken place.
Can. 1293 §1 To alienate goods whose value exceeds the determined
minimum sum, it is also required that there be:
1° a just reason, such as urgent necessity, evident advantage, or a religious,
charitable or other grave pastoral reason;
2° a written expert valuation of the goods to be alienated.
§2 To avoid harm to the Church, any other precautions drawn up by lawful
authority are also to be followed.
Can. 1294 §1 Normally goods must not be alienated for a price lower
than that given in the valuation.
§2 The money obtained from alienation must be carefully invested for the
benefit of the Church, or prudently expended according to the purposes of the
alienation.
Can. 1295 The provisions of Cann. 1291–1294, to which the statutes
of juridical persons are to conform, must be observed not only in alienation,
but also in any dealings in which the patrimonial condition of the juridical
person may be jeopardised.
Can. 1296 When alienation has taken place without the prescribed canonical
formalities, but is valid in civil law, the competent authority must carefully
weigh all the circumstances and decide whether, and if so what, action is to
be taken, namely personal or real, by whom and against whom, to vindicate the
rights of the Church.
Can. 1297 It is the duty of the Episcopal Conference, taking into account
the local circumstances, to determine norms about the leasing of ecclesiastical
goods, especially about permission to be obtained from the competent ecclesiastical
authority.
Can. 1298 Unless they are of little value, ecclesiastical goods are not
to be sold or leased to the administrators themselves or to their relatives
up to the fourth degree of consanguinity or affinity, without the special written
permission of the competent authority.
Can. 1299 §1 Those who by the natural law and by canon law can
freely dispose of their goods may leave them to pious causes either by an act
inter vivos or by an act mortis causa.
§2 In arrangements mortis causa in favour of the Church, the formalities
of the civil law are as far as possible to be observed. If these formalities
have been omitted, the heirs must be advised of their obligation to fulfil the
intention of the testator.
Can. 1300 The intentions of the faithful who give or leave goods to pious
causes, whether by an act inter vivos or by an act mortis causa, once lawfully
accepted, are to be most carefully observed, even in the manner of the administration
and the expending of the goods, without prejudice to the provisions of Can.
1301 §3.
Can. 1301 §1 The Ordinary is the executor of all pious dispositions
whether made mortis causa or inter vivos.
§2 By this right the Ordinary can and must ensure, even by making a visitation,
that pious dispositions are fulfilled. Other executors are to render him an
account when they have finished their task.
§3 Any clause contrary to this right of the Ordinary which is added to
a last will, is to be regarded as non existent.
Can. 1302 §1 Anyone who receives goods in trust for pious causes,
whether by an act inter vivos or by last will, must inform the Ordinary about
the trust, as well as about the goods in question, both movable and immovable,
and about any obligations attached to them. If the donor has expressly and totally
forbidden this, the trust is not to be accepted.
§2 The Ordinary must demand that goods left in trust be safely preserved
and, in accordance with Can. 1301, he must ensure that the pious disposition
is executed.
§3 When goods given in trust to a member of a religious institute or society
of apostolic life, are destined for a particular place or diocese or their inhabitants,
or for pious causes, the Ordinary mentioned in §§1 and 2 is the local
Ordinary. Otherwise, when the person is a member of a pontifical clerical institute
or of a pontifical clerical society of apostolic life, it is the major Superior;
when of other religious institutes, it is the member’s proper Ordinary.
Can. 1303 §1 In law the term pious foundation comprises:
1° autonomous pious foundations, that is, aggregates of things destined
for the purposes described in Can. 114 §2, and established as juridical
persons by the competent ecclesiastical authority.
2° non autonomous pious foundations, that is, temporal goods given in any
way to a public juridical person and carrying with them a long term obligation,
such period to be determined by particular law. The obligation is for the juridical
person, from the annual income, to celebrate Masses, or to perform other determined
ecclesiastical functions, or in some other way to fulfil the purposes mentioned
in Can. 114 §2.
§2 If the goods of a non autonomous pious foundation are entrusted to a
juridical person subject to the diocesan Bishop, they are, on the expiry of
the time, to be sent to the fund mentioned in Can. 1274 §1, unless some
other intention was expressly manifested by the donor. Otherwise, the goods
fall to the juridical person itself.
Can. 1304 §1 For the valid acceptance of a pious foundation by a
juridical person, the written permission of the Ordinary is required. He is
not to give this permission until he has lawfully established that the juridical
person can satisfy not only the new obligations to be undertaken, but also any
already undertaken. The Ordinary is to take special care that the revenue fully
corresponds to the obligations laid down, taking into account the customs of
the region or place.
§2 Other conditions for the establishment or acceptance of a pious foundation
are to be determined by particular law.
Can. 1305 Money and movable goods which are assigned as a dowry are immediately
to be put in a safe place approved by the Ordinary, so that the money or the
value of the movable goods is safeguarded; as soon as possible, they are to
be carefully and profitably invested for the good of the foundation, with an
express and individual mention of the obligation undertaken, in accordance with
the prudent judgement of the Ordinary when he has consulted those concerned
and his own finance committee.
Can. 1306 §1 All foundations, even if made orally, are to be recorded
in writing.
§2 One copy of the document is to be carefully preserved in the curial
archive and another copy in the archive of the juridical person to which the
foundation pertains.
Can. 1307 §1 When the provisions of Cann. 1300–1302 and 1287
have been observed, a document showing the obligations arising from the pious
foundations is to be drawn up. This is to be displayed in a conspicuous place,
so that the obligations to be fulfilled are not forgotten.
§2 Apart from the book mentioned in Can. 958 §1, another book is to
be kept by the parish priest or rector, in which each of the obligations, their
fulfilment and the offering given, is to be recorded.
Can. 1308 §1 The reduction of Mass obligations, for a just and necessary
reason, is reserved to the Apostolic See, without prejudice to the provisions
which follow.
§2 If this is expressly provided for in the document of foundation, the
Ordinary may reduce Mass obligations on the ground of reduced income.
§3 In the cases of Masses given in legacies or in foundations of any kind,
which are solely for the purpose of Masses, the diocesan Bishop has the power,
because of the diminution of income and for as long as this persists, to reduce
the obligations to the level of the offering lawfully current in the diocese.
He may do this, however, only if there is no one who has an obligation to increase
the offering and can actually be made to do so.
§4 The diocesan Bishop has the power to reduce the obligations or legacies
of Masses which bind an ecclesiastical institute, if the revenue has become
insufficient to achieve in a fitting manner the proper purpose of the institute.
§5 The supreme Moderator of a clerical religious institute of pontifical
right has the powers given in §§3 and 4.
Can. 1309 Where a fitting reason exists, the authorities mentioned in
Can. 1308 have the power to transfer Mass obligations to days, churches or altars
other than those determined in the foundation.
Can. 1310 §1 The intentions of the faithful in pious cases may be
reduced, directed or changed by the Ordinary, if the donor has expressly conceded
this power to him, but only for a just and necessary reason.
§2 If it has become impossible to carry out the obligations because of
reduced income, or for any other reason arising without fault on the part of
the administrators, the Ordinary can diminish these obligations in an equitable
manner, with the exception of the reduction of Masses, which is governed by
the provisions of Can. 1308. He may do so only after consulting those concerned
and his own finance committee, keeping in the best way possible to the intention
of the donor.
§3 In all other cases, the Apostolic See is to be approached.