Who Owns the Church, Legally?
Sunday, May 30, 2004
on ARCC Web Sites
unwanted mergers or closures because of the priest
shortage, the question arises as to who actually owns
the parish property and its resources.
Universal Church Canon Law states, "Under the
supreme authority of the Roman Pontiff, ownership of
goods belongs to that juridical person which has
lawfully acquired them" (c. 1256). Parishes,
established under this same law, are such juridical
persons (c. 515.3). They have ownership of their
property and goods and must have a finance
committee to help in the administration of their
resources. Moreover, church authorities are obliged
to honor the wishes of donors (c. 1267.3), and the
envelope system used in most parishes clearly
establishes the intentions of donors. While canon law
seems clear, it is interpreted in the U.S. as meaning
that parishes CAN, under civil law, legally acquire and
administer their own property but they are NOT
OBLIGED to do so (and a few are actually allowed to
do this). By this circumvention of universal church law,
U.S. bishops, with very few exceptions, continue to
make themselves the civil owners (and hence the
targets of civil litigation) of all Church properties.
An effort is under way to conform to universal Church
law. Some are attempting to incorporate each parish,
which also might insulate the bishop from catastrophic
lawsuits. But here again the bishop maintains control,
as he is named head (but not owner) of each parish
corporation. Establishing "Charitable Trusts" for each
parish is another option bishops are exploring to
shelter themselves while controlling resources. While
this system works fairly well in the administration of
Church resources, it does not provide for adequate
accountability. In addition, it merely honors the letter
of canon law but not its spirit i.e. the right of the parish
to the ownership of its property and resources.
The one defense a financially-sound parish has
against unwanted mergers and closures resides in its
finance committee. With the endorsement of the
parish council and the people of the parish, the
finance committee can resist even to the point of
appealing to Rome where Universal Canon Law is the
norm. Bishops are aware of this and usually tread
lightly when attempting to close financially healthy
parishes even when there are not enough priests.
Appeals to Rome can be made but must be based on
the lack of due process and consultation. The more
enlightened bishops engage their people as they plan
for this eventuality and work with them to explore
alternate ways of providing ministry for healthy parish
communities through parish clustering and priest
sharing (c 374). The diocese of Dubuque Iowa is a
model of this participatory process, and one that
every bishop might emulate.
http://www.arch.pvt.k12.ia.us/ and
dbqcpp@arch.pvt.k12.ia.us
Ask your bishop how he is involving the people of the
parishes that are under consideration for closure or
merger. Get to know your parish finance committee,
and support them in their efforts to be accountable.