Charity to the Poor

The Duty of Charity to the Poor.—(a) According to Canon Law all beneficed clergy (Cardinals excepted) must give all the superfluous fruits of their benefice to charitable or pious causes (Canon 1473). But it is an extremely strict view which holds that all the secular clergy are beneficed.

(b) According to the divine law of charity (see 1226, 1252) even the unbeneficed clergy have the duty of giving alms from their surplus wealth. Thus, it would be unmerciful if a clergyman spent on himself all the fortune he had inherited from his relatives without thought of the poor; it would be often a source of scandal if a priest enriched his relatives with money received in ministerial ways, but left nothing to pious causes.

Canon 1473 on the Disposition of Superfluous Wealth by Beneficed Clergy.—(a) The Money to be Spent.—The Canon does not refer to the property of the Church (i.e., the foundation or endowment of the benefice), for of this the beneficed clergyman is only the administrator, and he would be unjust if he alienated its funds to other purposes; nor does it refer to the clergyman’s own property, such as goods received by inheritance or other profane title (patrimonialia), or by title of personal ministerial service, such as stipends and fees (quasi-patrimonialia). It refers, then, to the revenues of the benefice (e.g., the bishop’s or pastor’s salary) and to the amount that is left over after the deduction of all reasonable and customary expenses that have been made, or could have been made for decent personal support.

(b) The Use of Surplus Money.—The alms should be given to any pious or charitable cause, such as the promotion of divine worship, the assistance of needy missions, the spiritual or corporal works of mercy. The cleric is free to bestow his gift either during his lifetime (which is better) or to leave it in his will.

The Obligation of Canon 1473.—(a) The obligation is most probably not one of justice, since the holder of the benefice owns the superfluous fruits, but one of obedience to the Church. Some authors also consider this precept as binding in virtue of religion and charity, and regard its violation as a sacrilege or sin against charity. The holder of the benefice is not held to restitution, however, since neglect of the precept is not an injustice. As to his successors through gift inter vivos or testament, they are not bound to give the superfluities as an alms, since the church precept was for the cleric himself. Successors to an intestate should observe the wishes of the deceased, but, if the character of the goods they inherit is doubtful, they may usually be left in good faith.

(b) The obligation is grave, since it is commanded as an act of religion, or at least as an act of obedience in a very important matter. From the time of the Apostles it was customary to distribute to the poor what was left over of the goods of the Church, and the clergy were regarded as the fathers and protectors of the needy. Again, since the goods of a benefice originated in gifts offered to God Himself, it is most becoming that their superfluities be devoted to the causes most pleasing to God. Grave matter would be three times the amount required in theft, because a violation of this precept is not the taking of what is not one’s own, but the using in a forbidden way of what is one’s own.