In recent months, there have been a certain number of new publications in the area of temporal goods and canon law. Among these we could simply mention two: B. Lucas, et al., Church Administration Handbook (Sydney, Australia, ST PAULS, 2008) and J.-P. Shouppe, Droit canonique des biens (Montreal, Wilson & Lafleur, 2008). This new book by Msgr. John Renken shows how important the topic is becoming for those persons entrusted with the proper administration of Church goods.
Indeed, one has simply to do an internet search for "Embezzelment of Church Goods" to find pages of articles listed under this theme. One of the references indicated there, based on a survey conducted by Villanova University, indicates that 85% of the Catholic dioceses in the USA have had funds stolen over the past five years. The funds involved range from small sums to amounts exceeding $6,000,000. Indeed, on p. 172 of this new work, the author refers to an article entitled "The Bottom Line: Will Church Finances Be the Next Scandal?" These facts indicate, at least on the surface, that something is quite wrong in the way in which the provisions of Church Law calling for proper administration have been applied in a number of our diocese, parishes, and other ecclesial institutions.
Msgr. Renken wishes to help remedy this potentially damaging situation by offering guidance to help administrators handle in a lawful and efficient way the many financial transactions which cross their desks every day. This is a very important goal, and I believe that if we follow the guidance in this book, the goal will be attained.
The contents are up to date (re 2009) and refer to situations both in the USA and in Canada. For instance, all the decisions of the Conferences of Bishops of both countries are dutifully noted in their proper place so that a North American reader can know what are the provisions currently in effect in either country.
The book does not intend to proceed from a theoretical perspective (as we could find in J.-P Shouppe's excellent work), nor does he offer sample documents governing various transactions (as we find in Father Lucas's helpful presentations). Rather, his intention is to review the relevant canons, comment on them in order, and draw relationships with other canons found outside the scope of Book V of the Code of Canon Law. In particular, he makes a point of referring to those canons which apply to religious institutes.
The abundant footnotes make reference to current authors and, at times, he shows the differences of opinions that we can find among the commentators. This is most helpful since, as anyone who is involved in this area of Canon Law knows, the current law was not designed specifically for many of the situations we are meeting today and, because of this, it is inevitable that people see things in different perspectives.
This is the type of book that I wish I could have written myself. The author has every right to feel proud of it. I particularly enjoyed the sections on canon 1263 (taxation), 1277 (extraordinary administration) and 1291 (alienation). If I had a disappointment, it concerns the comments on canon 1295. These are quite brief, even though this canon is one that today is being applied more and more as religious institutes and dioceses pool their apostolic works together, whether in healthcare, education, or social service, and where the lines distinguishing the stable patrimony of one entity can easily become blurred with those of another. However, this can easily be adjusted in a later edition.
The text has been very carefully presented, almost no typos (p. 229 Centesimus; and a consistent misspelling of the name ABBASS). It would be good if this work could be translated into French and Spanish for Church administrators in other parts of North America. I enjoyed heartily reading this work and certainly intend to make use of it in my own canonical work. --Francis G. Morrisey, O.M.I. in Studia canonica.
Some have commented that perhaps the most mysterious section of the 1983 Code of Canon Law is Book V, The Temporal Goods of the Church. Church Property: A Commentary on Canon Law Governing Temporal Goods in the United States and CAnada will certainly unveil any mystery surrounding the Church's discipline on its temporal goods.
Church Property is an indispensable and up-to-date tool for those who wish to learn and better understand, in a clear but precise way, the existing legislation dealing with ecclesiastical property. Although the title of the book makes particular reference to the United States and Canada (whose particular legislation on ecclesiastical goods is contained), the work is a commentary on temporal goods useful throughout the world.
Following an Introduction, the work is divided into six chapters. Chapter One treats briefly the historical development of Book V. Chapter Two treats the preliminary canons on temporal goods (canons 1254-1258). Chapter Three comments on the acquisition of temporal goods (canons 1259-1272). Chapter Four discusses the administration of ecclesiastical goods (canons 1273-1289). Chapter Five addresses contracts involving alienation, threatening transactions, and leases (canons 1290-1298). Chapter Six studies pious causes, pious wills, pious trusts, and pious foundations (canons 1299-1310). The Conclusion is a reflection situating temporal goods within the context of ecclesial communio.
The author presents the canons in ordered sequence, as they appear in the Code, and his commentary makes multiple cross references to other canons. The commentary on each canon concludes with a comparison of the Latin legislation to the discipline for the twenty-two Eastern Catholic Churches sui iuris. Consequently, Church Property is also a valuable tool for those who are governed by the Eastern Catholic discipline.
Church Property contains five appendices which provide further instruction on the Church's discipline on temporalities. Appendix One is a commentary on temporal goods in institutes of consecrated life and societies of apostolic life (canons 634-640, 718, 741). Appendix Two identifies references to Church property in the Latin Code outside Book V; all the canons identified are also discussed at the appropriate place within the book. Appendix Three lists references to various competent authorities over temporal goods identified in Book V: the conference of bishops, the provincial bishops, the diocesan bishop, the local ordinary, and the ordinary; this listing is a helpful tool for these competent ecclesiastical authorities to be aware of their legal responsibilities in caring for Church property. Appendix Four is a table of corresponding canons of the 1917 Latin Code, the 1983 Latin Code, and the 1990 Eastern Code.
The work ends with an extensive and current pluri-lingual bibliography on the temporal goods of the Church: official sources, books/commentaries, dissertations/theses, articles/chapters in books, and articles in periodicals.
Monsignor John A. Renken is professor of Canon Law at Saint Paul University, Ottawa, Canada where, among other subjects, he teaches the canons on temporal goods. Previously, he taught canon law for eighteen summers at The Catholic University of America, Washington, D.C. He is past president of The Canon Law Society of America, and a former consultant to the Canonical Affairs Committee of the USCCB. He has a degree in civil law, a doctorate in sacred theology, and a doctorate in Canon Law.
This book is a well-researched and scholarly work. It is also an entirely practical resource intended to assist diocesan, religious, and parochial personnel to understand and implement the discipline of the Latin and Eastern Codes into the practical and daily life of the Church. --Michael-Andreas Nobel, Professor of Canon Law, Saint Paul University, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada in Studies in Church Law.
Con la conciencia de que el Código de derecho canónico está sustentado en la elesiología de comunión, enseñada por el Concilio Vaticano II, el Autor ofrece el presente comentario sobre los bienes temporales de la Iglesia, con a finalidad de que sirva a los administradores de bienes eclesiásticos para que comprendan las normas del derecho canónico que se refieren a su oficio y las apliquen correctament. También redundará en beneficio de la Iglesia, cuyos bienes serán legitimamente adquiridos, retenidos, administrados y, eventualmente, alienados. De igual modo, garantizará que las intenciones de los donantes serán respetadas y observadas y, en fin, para que haya transparencia en la administración de los bienes eclesiásticos. Además, no cabe duda que èste también constituye un excelente manual para la enseñanza de esta parte del derecho canónico.
La estructura del Texto sigue la misma del Libro V del Código de derecho canónico, precedido por una historia del desarrollo del Libro V (capitulo uno): Cánones preliminares (cap.2), adquisición de bienes (cap.3), administración de bienes (cap. 4), contratos y especialmente la alienación (cap. 5), y voluntades pías en general y fundaciones pías (cap. 6). Sin embargo, el Autor también incorpora a su estudio los cánones que se refieren a los bienes temporales de la Iglesia, dispersos en el Código.
En un lenguaje claro, el Autor aplica el método exegético para comentar los cánones, ayudándose do los cánones del CIC 17 y de las deliberaciones hechas durante la revision del Código. Asimismo, de cada canon comentado hace mención de su canon paralelo del Código de Cánones de las Iglesias Orientales. En muchos casos, simplemente mencionará que no hay canon correspondiente.
Como instrumentos pedagógicos para el estudio y la profundización de la materia, el Autor incluye una amplia bibliografía y un indice temático. También incluye, en los apéndices, una tabla de referencias de los bienes temporales que se encuentran fuera del Libro V; una relación de las acciones a realizar de las autoridades competentes, tocante a los bienes eclesiásticos regulados por el Libro V; y una tabla de concordancia de cánones del CIC 83, CCEO y CIC 17.
El texto no se reduce a presentar un estudio puramente teórico del significado de los cánones. Su rica aportación incluye la aplicación de la legislación canónica a las realidades concretas de las Iglesias de Estados Unidos y Canada, enriqueciendo su trabajo con una jurisprudencia adecuada y propuestas concretas de reconocidos canonistas. El trabajo no estaría completo sin un comentarlo a los cánones que regulan, en particular, los bienes temporales de los Institutos de Vida Consagrada y Sociedades de Vida Apostólica, ubicados fuera del Libro V.
En fin, agradecemos a Mons. Renken por esta obra que constituye un manual completo y práctico que será muy útil, no sólo a los administradores de bienes eclesiásticos, sino también a los pastores que tienen que ver de cualquier modo con los bienes de la Iglesia y a los estudiosos del derecho canónico. --Mario Medina Balarn in la Revista Mexicana de Derecho canónico, 15 (2009), pp. 347-348.
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