§ IV. What are the various species of ecclesiastical goods, and what is to be observed here concerning each

Note. - Under the name of ecclesiastical goods in this place come not only those things which are held as such in the strict sense, but also those in the broad sense. Therefore we shall treat 1° of beneficial goods; 2° of taxes to be paid to the Bishop; 3° of the remaining ecclesiastical goods.

628. • A benefice is defined by Canonists: A perpetual right of receiving fruits from the goods of the Church on account of some spiritual office constituted by the authority of the Church and to be exercised in one's own name.

It is said: 1° perpetual right. But this perpetuity can be understood in a double way, namely by reason a) of the benefice, which once erected always remains; b) of the beneficiary, who obtains the right of receiving the fruits of the benefice not for a time, but as long as he shall have lived. Commonly the Doctors assert that perpetuity accepted in both senses is of the nature of an ecclesiastical benefice; yet this is not admitted by all, and Leurenius, cited by Cardinal Soglia,¹ admits only perpetuity of the former kind as essential to benefices. Bouix,² St. Alphonsus,³ and others embrace the sentence of Leurenius.

It is said: 2° of receiving fruits from the goods of the Church. Ecclesiastical goods from which those fruits are received are called the dowry of the benefice, and consist either in rural or urban estates, or in pastures, woods, or similar things, or in those rights which obtain the place of fruits and in Roman Law are equated with immovable things, such as rents or annual revenues.

It is said: 3° on account of some spiritual office, as for example on account of the obligation of reciting the canonical hours, of serving some Church by administration of the Sacraments, preaching, celebration of Mass, etc. But this spiritual office is indeed the foundation and cause of the benefice, but it is not the benefice itself.

It is said: 4° constituted by the authority of the Church, namely of the Supreme Pontiff or of the Bishop.

629. • From the given definition of a benefice it is sufficiently clear that the question concerning the dominion of Clerics is almost useless as to these provinces. For goods pertaining to the dominion of Clerics are distinguished as of four kinds, namely: - 1° patrimonial, which come from paternal inheritance or from any other profane cause, for example from donation, etc.; - 2° quasi-patrimonial, which are acquired by occasion and with regard to ecclesiastical functions not attached to a benefice, for example by celebrating Mass, preaching, etc. They are also called quasi-ecclesiastical or casual, and to them pertain the Offerings of the faithful for the support of priests, as is clear also from the response of the Sacred Penitentiary given on 9 Aug. 1824; - 3° ecclesiastical, which arise from benefices of the Church; - 4° parcimonial, which a Cleric sets aside by living sparingly from the fruits of a benefice, and which he could consume by living honorably. - Now, scarcely one Parochial benefice is yet known certainly to exist in these Provinces;¹ therefore the goods of Clerics here are no others except patrimonial and quasi-patrimonial; for there can be no question of parcimonial goods where there are no beneficial goods which may be spared. Therefore our Clerics have perfect dominion of all their goods, and the question is useless for us whether they are bound to restitution when they spend badly the superfluous things of ecclesiastical or beneficial goods, and the other questions connected with it: namely, what is understood by superfluous; whether Clerics can preserve the superfluous for the future; whether a Cleric who has from patrimony whence he may live can also sustain himself wholly from the fruits of a benefice; whether also pensioners, whose pension is extracted from the fruits of a benefice, ought to expend the superfluous upon the poor. Concerning all these things, if a case were to occur as to priests arriving in these Provinces from elsewhere, where they had a benefice, or concerning our Bishops, for whom the so-called Cathedraticum is the dowry of a benefice, either St. Alphonsus¹ or Kenrick² can be seen.

630. Note. - Kenrick³ contends that the offices which in several States are committed to a priest with the fruits of the lands which are joined to presbyteries, and likewise the pension which is paid to priests by lay trustees on account of the care of souls and is annexed to it, are to be held after the manner of benefices. But undeservedly, as indeed it seems to us. For as to the fruits of those lands, although they are immovables and given on account of a spiritual office, and committed to the trust of the Bishop or another, nevertheless they are not benefices; for the spiritual office on account of which they are given is exercised among us not in one's own name, but in the name of the Bishop. Therefore at least one of the conditions required for a benefice is lacking (see n. 628). Nor is the pension paid by lay trustees a benefice or given in place of it. Wherefore, in our judgment at least, Kenrick⁴ does not rightly apply to this pension the response which the Sacred Penitentiary⁵ gave concerning salaries which in France and Belgium are paid to priests by the Government. For these are paid in compensation for beneficial goods which were taken away at the time of the French disturbance, and therefore they have the same nature as the goods for which they are substituted; and no one will affirm this of a pension paid by lay trustees.

There is only one case in which among us a priest receiving revenues from those lands, or a pension paid by lay trustees, would be guilty of injustice and bound to restitution, namely if he neglected the office on account of which they are given, i.e. duties which regard the care of souls. For then the title by which they are received is lacking. Moreover, it cannot easily be defined how much is to be restored if one has neglected some duties, for example to receive Confessions or to preach the word of God. For the most part it will suffice to shake off sluggishness and show himself liberal toward the poor.

631. • Taxes to be paid to the Bishop are either ordinary or extraordinary.

Among ordinary taxes the principal is the Cathedraticum, to be paid by all parish priests, beneficiaries, and secular churches, but not by those churches of Regulars which are not subject to the Bishop. Among us the name of Cathedraticum has been transferred to the contribution to be paid for the support of the Bishop.¹

An extraordinary tax is especially constituted by the Procuration, or that which is given to the Bishop in the name of sustenance by the churches which he canonically visits.² See what was said at n. 356, Resp. 3° a).

632. • The remaining ecclesiastical goods are A) Tithes,³ which are none here. B) First-fruits,⁴ which now have almost everywhere ceased, nor here were they ever to be given by right. C) Daily distributions, which come to Canons present in choir,⁵ and concerning which among us, with no Chapters erected up to now, a question would be moved uselessly. D) Offerings, concerning which now, and indeed more fully for us, we must treat.

633. • The uncertain generosity of the faithful, which up to now generally has not failed, is the chief, and in very many places the only, means by which our Clergy is supported. Now:

Quaer. 1° Whether and in what way are our faithful bound to contribute to the support of the Clergy, and generally of religion?

Resp. with Kenrick:⁶ "This ... ought to be persuaded to all: that it is fitting that individuals contribute something for their own part, lest priests" and religion "lack necessary support; but as long as no certain law enjoins and defines the burden, we do not dare to condemn of mortal sin him who omits to contribute an equal portion, whenever there is no danger lest priests be in need on that account, or other faithful be excessively burdened. But those who through avarice refuse to give anything, in the circumstances which we have indicated" and these circumstances occur more rarely, "seem gravely guilty and unworthy of sacramental pardon; for they violate the law of Christ the Lord concerning the support of the Ministers of the Gospel, and expose themselves and others to danger of salvation."

634. • Quaer. 2° What are the principal species of offerings in these Provinces?

Resp. Comprehending those things which can be called offerings only in the broadest sense, the principal are: a) monies which are accustomed to be collected in individual parishes for determined pious causes; b) pious donations and legacies; c) contributions of various Societies; d) subsidies given in certain States by civil power to Catholic schools, orphanages, hospitals, and similar pious places or institutes; e) subsidies furnished by European Mission Societies; f) collections which are accustomed to be held during divine Offices; g) revenues from the leasing of seats or benches; h) stipends of Masses; i) Offerings properly so called, or stole fees.

635. • Offerings of which in n. 634 under a), b), c), d), from justice are to be spent for the special ends for which they are made. Yet limit this according to L. IV. 931. q. II.

Monies of which in the same n. 634 under a), namely those which are accustomed to be collected in individual parishes for determined pious causes:

1° Cannot be collected by a priest outside the congregation entrusted to him or in another diocese without written license of the Ordinary, and this under penalty of suspension ferendae sententiae. "But let Religious remember to bring with them the license of their Superior."²

2° If it is a question of giving a Mission in some parish, "the Fathers judged it would be advisable ... that before Missionaries approach collections, or even sell, either by themselves or through others, pious books, Rosaries, Crosses, Medals, and other things of this kind in congregations where Missions are made, they obtain both the previous assent of the Pastor and the approbation of the Ordinary."³

3° "It seems that by no excuse can there be covered the practice of procuring monies for ecclesiastical uses by those means which provide a direct occasion of sinning, are not infrequently causes of public scandal, and expose the Catholic name to the mockeries and reproaches of outsiders."⁴ - Therefore the Bishops in Pastoral Letters given to the Clergy and faithful say: "We forbid all Catholics from having anything to do with them" (the Fairs, Excursions, and Picnics), "except when managed in accordance with the regulations of the Ordinary, and under the immediate supervision of their respective Pastors."¹

4° The conscience of Bishops is burdened that they take care lest priests depart from the altar during the solemnities of Masses and go around the sacred building, asking alms from individual faithful.²

636. • The collection of money which is accustomed to be gathered during the solemnities of Masses, and the revenues of seats or benches, since they come on the occasion of the Sacrifice, pertain to the parish priest, unless there is either another custom or another intention of those offering.³ It is clear that among us they must be held as revenues of the churches under each of these titles.

Note. - Seats or benches:

1° To lease them is not simoniacal; for although here the temporal is concomitantly annexed to the spiritual, namely to assistance at the divine Offices, nevertheless it is annexed to the same only extrinsically, since one need not necessarily assist at the divine Offices in some seat or bench, and this convenience, as entirely temporal, is worthy of a price. But "the Supreme Pontiff Pius IX declared that the practice, if it exists, of exacting money at the doors of Churches so that the faithful may enter and be present at the divine mysteries is very displeasing to him, and he wished it to be entirely eliminated."⁴

2° To guard against most grave inconveniences and evils "it is necessary," says Kenrick,⁵ "to abstain from selling benches, lest the buyers obtain full right (n. 590) in them, since it is enough that they be able to occupy them while the solemnities of Masses are performed, with the laws and rules otherwise observed."

637. • Concerning Mass stipends the Second Plenary Council of Baltimore established:

1° "That no one exact more, nor regularly less, than what shall have seemed opportune and just to his Bishop."⁶

2° "That foundations" of Masses, whether for a time or in perpetuity, "not be accepted without the prior assent of the Bishop, if it is a question of a secular institute, or of the regular prelate, if the foundation is made in favor of an exempt Community."¹ - But as to the stipend of these, the Fourth Decree of the First Synod of Cincinnati is commended as a norm, by which it is established "that for a private Mass there exist a principal of at least 50 dollars" ($50), "but for a sung Mass 100 dollars" ($100).² - The Fathers also establish that the abuse by which "public and frequent invitations to alms to be spent upon foundations of this kind, for several continuous months, are inserted in popular newspapers among other profane business," is to be removed "without delay by Bishops and prelates."³

3° "That in individual secular and regular churches there be a catalogue or table of burdens which have been imposed upon them in perpetuity or for a certain prefixed time, and respectively accepted; and that in the sacristy of the same place there be preserved books, in one of which perpetual or temporal burdens of this kind, but in the other manual and adventitious Masses, are inscribed, together with a faithful and distinct notation of the subsequent fulfillment of each."⁴

As to stole fees, see n. 356.