Chapter I — The notion of an ecclesiastical benefice, and the various kinds of benefices

I. QUESTION I. What is an ecclesiastical benefice? ANSWER. It is a perpetual right of perceiving fruits from the goods of the Church on account of some spiritual office, constituted by the authority of the Church. It is called a right, because the fruits are owed to the beneficiary out of justice as the wage of his labour. Perpetual, because it is not extinguished by the death of the beneficiary, but the benefice falls vacant. From the goods of the Church signifies that the goods whence the fruits proceed are the Church's, because at the beginning the faithful delivered their goods to the Church for the sustentation of the ministers. On account of some spiritual office, namely of administering the sacraments, of celebrating the sacred rites, of singing in choir, of preaching, and so forth. By the authority, and so forth, declares that a benefice ought to be constituted by the authority of a bishop or of the Supreme Pontiff. Hence authors require six conditions for a benefice: 1. That it be founded by the bishop's authority; 2. That it be annexed to a spiritual thing; 3. That it ought to be conferred upon a cleric; 4. That an ecclesiastical person alone can confer it; 5. That it be perpetual; 6. That the collator cannot confer it upon himself.

II. QUESTION II. Of how many kinds is a benefice? ANSWER. Several are the kinds of benefices. The greater are the papacy, the episcopate, abbacies; the lesser are very many others. Besides, one benefice is regular, another secular. The former ought to be conferred upon the professed of a Religion alone, as an abbacy, a priorate, and certain parishes; the latter upon clerics alone loosed from monastic vows.

III. A benefice is further divided into double and simple. The former has jurisdiction over the clergy and people and the administration of ecclesiastical things. Of this kind are the papacy, archbishoprics, a secular abbacy, a plebanate, and all benefices with the care of souls, or to which the government of souls and jurisdiction is annexed. The latter has no jurisdiction, administration, or pre-eminence, but only there is annexed to it the debt of pouring forth prayers, of serving the altar, and of exercising other ecclesiastical ministries, such as are canonries, chaplaincies, and so forth. Praestimonia, which are benefices instituted out of the proceeds of the Church, to be conferred upon youths for the sake of studies, have conjoined the burden of paying definite prayers.

IV. Again, one benefice is elective, another collative, another mixed. The elective is conferred by several, through an election to be confirmed by the Superior. The collative is conferred by the Superior. The mixed: a patron designating, the bishop institutes and confers.

V. A patrimony, under whose title clerics receive sacred Orders, has not the character of a benefice. Dignities and other offices, although jurisdiction be annexed to them, are not properly benefices, as a generalate, provincialate, priorate, guardianship, and so forth, because they lack a perpetual right of perceiving fruits; and the same is to be said of the Vicar general of a bishop. The perpetual vicars of parish priests nevertheless are beneficiaries, otherwise temporary ones.

VI. Chaplaincies which are instituted by the authority of laymen lack the character of a benefice. But those which are erected and instituted with the bishop's consent properly obtain the character of a benefice. If anyone, the bishop's faculty going before, should institute a chaplaincy, and should decree that as often as it falls vacant a chaplain be elected who shall celebrate so many Masses in the week, one cannot be elected who is not a priest, or at least to be promoted to the priesthood within a year. Wherefore false to me is the opinion of those who teach that anyone having fourteen years can be elected. No less false to me is the other opinion of very many who deny that a priest must necessarily be elected, if the founder of the chaplaincy say: Let a priest be preferred, let a priest be elected. Common sense itself dictates that a priest is to be elected.