Background
In the Eastern Catholic Churches, the founder of a church was permitted to nominate an administrator for the temporal goods and indicate to the bishop a cleric suitable for appointment. [1] In the Latin Church, the Synod of Orange in 441 granted a right of "presentation" to a bishop who had built a church in another diocese [2] and the Synod of Toledo in 655 gave a layman this privilege for each church he built, [3] but the founder had no proprietary rights. [4]
In the countries occupied by the Germanic tribes, on the basis of the individual temple and church rights found in their national laws, the builder of a church, the feudal lord or the administrator possessed full right of disposal over the church founded or possessed by him, as his own church ( ecclesia propria ) and over the ecclesiastics appointed by him. However, the appointment and dismissal of ecclesiastics at least formally was made subject to the consent of the bishop. [5] In the course of the Investiture Controversy, however, the private right over churches was abolished, although to the lord of the estate, as patron, was conceded the right of presenting a cleric to the bishop (ius praesentandi) on the occasion of a vacancy in the church. [6] In England, unusually, this latter right was regulated by the Common Law, and referred to as advowson.
As Frangipane asserts in his thesis: [7] "The giuspatronato, or jus patronato, or simply patronage, had its origins in the Church's gratitude toward its benefactors during the high Middle Ages. The main distinction of the later form of patronage, which serves to distinguish it from past expressions, is that of presentation as opposed to institution allowing multiple candidates to be nominated and considered for the office in question."
Objects of patronage
Any church benefice, with the exception of the papacy, the cardinalate, the episcopate, and the prelatures of cathedral, collegiate and monastic churches, may be the object of the right of patronage. All persons and corporate bodies may be subject to the right of patronage. But persons, besides being capable of exercising the right, must be members of the Catholic Church. Thus non-Christians, Jews, heretics, schismatics and apostates are ineligible for any sort of patronage.
Nevertheless in Germany and Austria it has become customary as a result of the Peace of Westphalia (1648) for Protestants to possess the rights of patronage over Catholic, and Catholics over Protestant church offices. In modern concordats Rome has repeatedly granted the right of patronage to Protestant princes. Entirely ineligible for patronage are the excommunicati vitandi (the excommunicati tolerati are able at least to acquire it), and those who are infamous according to ecclesiastical or civil law. On the other hand, illegitimates, children, minors and women may acquire patronages.
Gaining a right of patronage
A right of patronage is originally acquired by foundation, privilege or prescription:
- Under foundation (fundatio) in the broader sense is included the granting of the necessary means for the erection and maintenance of a benefice. Thus, granting that a church is necessary to a benefice, three things are requisite: the assignment of land, the erection of the church at one's private expense (aedificatio), and the granting of the means necessary for the support of the church and beneficiaries (dotatio). If the same person fulfills all three requirements, he becomes ipso jure patron, unless he waives his claim. [8] Different persons performing these three acts become co-patrons. It is an accepted theory that one who is responsible for only one of the three acts mentioned, the other two conditions being fulfilled in any manner whatsoever, becomes a patron. It is possible to become a patron also through the reædiftatio ecclesiæ (rebuilding a church) and redotatio beneficii (reendowing the benefice).
- A second manner in which a patronage may be acquired is through papal privilege.
- A third is by prescription.
Derivatively, a patronage may be obtained through inheritance (in which case a patronage may easily become a co-patronage; by presentation), in which a lay patron must have the sanction of the bishop if he desires to transfer his right to another layman, but an ecclesiastic requires the permission of the pope to present it to a layman, or that of the bishop to give it to another ecclesiastic [9]
An already existing right of patronage may be acquired by exchange, by purchase, or by prescription. In exchange or purchase of a real patronage the price of the object in question may not be raised in consideration of the patronage; the right of patronage being a ius spirituali annexum, such a thing would be simony.
A ruler of a country may acquire the right of patronage in any of the three ways mentioned but does not automatically have the right of patronage.
Rights involved in patronage
The rights involved in patronage are: the right of presentation, honorary rights, utilitarian rights and the cura beneficii.
Right of presentation
The right of presentation (ius praesentandi) means that in case of a vacancy in the benefice, a patron may propose to the ecclesiastical superiors empowered with the right of collation, the name of a suitable person for that office. Co-patrons with the right of presentation may take turns, or each may present a name for himself, or it may be decided by vote. In the case of juridical persons the presentation may be made according to statute, or by turns, or by decision of the majority. The drawing of lots is excluded.
With regard to the one to be presented, in the case of a benefice involving the cure of souls, the ecclesiastical patron must choose from among the candidates for presentation the one he believes the most suitable, judging from the parish concursus. The lay patron has only to present the name of a candidate who is suitable in his opinion. In case this candidate has not passed the parish concursus, he must undergo an examination before the synodal examiners.
In the case of a mixed patronage, the rights of which are exercised in common by an ecclesiastical and a lay patron, the same rule holds as in the case of a lay patronage. Here it is the rule to deal with the mixed patronage, now as a spiritual and again as a lay patronage, according as it is most pleasing to the patrons. If the prerogatives of the mixed patronage are exercised in turn, however, it is considered as a spiritual or a lay patronage, as suits the nature of the case.
The patron cannot present his own name. Co-patrons may, however, present one of their own number. If through no fault of the patron, the name of an ineligible person is presented, he is granted a certain time of grace to make a new presentation. If, however, an ineligible person has been knowingly presented, the spiritual patron loses for the time being the right of presentation, but the lay patron, so long as the first interval allowed for presentation has not expired, may make an after-presentation. Thus the presentation of the spiritual patron is treated more after the manner of the episcopal collation. On that account the spiritual patron is not permitted an after-presentation or a variation in choice, which is permitted the lay patron, after which the bishop has the choice between the several names presented. [10]
A presentation may be made by word of mouth or in writing. But under penalty of nullity all expressions are to be avoided which would imply a bestowal of the office. [11] A simoniacal presentation would be invalid.
The time allowed for presentation is four months to a lay patron, and six to a spiritual patron; six months is stipulated for a mixed patronage when exercised in common, four or six months when turn is taken . [12] The interval begins the moment announcement is made of the vacancy. For one who through no fault of his own has been hindered in making a presentation, the time does not expire at the end of the period mentioned. When his candidate has been unjustly rejected by the bishop, the patron may appeal, or make an after presentation.
Honorary rights
The honorary rights (iura honorifica) of the patron are: precedence in procession, a sitting in the church, prayers and intercessions, ecclesiastical mentions, burial in the church, ecclesiastical mourning, inscriptions, special incensing, the asperges (holy water), ashes, palms and the Pax.
Utilitarian rights
The utilitarian rights (iura utilia) of the patron consist essentially in that insofar as he is a descendant of the founder he is entitled to a maintenance allowance the superfluous funds of the church connected with the patronage if he has no other means to support himself. [13] To draw any other material advantages from the church connected with the patronage, as so frequently happened in the Middle Ages, it is requisite for this condition to have been made at the time of foundation with the consent of the bishop, or that it be subsequently stipulated. [14]
End of a right of patronage
The right of patronage lapses at the suppression of the subject or object. If the church connected with the patronage is threatened with total ruin, or the endowment with a deficit, if those first bound to restore it are not at hand, the bishop is to exhort the patron to rebuild (reædificandum) or renew the endowment (ad redotandum). His refusal forfeits him the right of patronage, at least for himself personally. Furthermore, the right of patronage is lost upon express or tacit renunciation. And lastly, it lapses in cases of apostasy, heresy, schism, simoniacal alienation, usurpation of the ecclesiastical jurisdiction over the patronal church or appropriation of its goods and revenues, murder or mutilation of an ecclesiastic connected with the church.
In 1917 there was an effort to limit and decrease the number of patrons. In pursuit of this goal, Canon 1450 of the Canonical Codex Juris forbade the creation of any new privileges, while Canon 1451 recommends that the ordinaries encourage patrons to renounce the privilege in exchange for spiritual favor.
The Fourth Council of the Lateran or Lateran IV was convoked by Pope Innocent III in April 1213 and opened at the Lateran Palace in Rome on 11 November 1215. Due to the great length of time between the Council's convocation and meeting, many bishops had the opportunity to attend what is considered by the Roman Catholic Church to have been the twelfth ecumenical council.
A benefice or living is a reward received in exchange for services rendered and as a retainer for future services. The Roman Empire used the Latin term beneficium as a benefit to an individual from the Empire for services rendered. Its use was adopted by the Western Church in the Carolingian Era as a benefit bestowed by the crown or church officials. A benefice specifically from a church is called a precaria, such as a stipend, and one from a monarch or nobleman is usually called a fief. A benefice is distinct from an allod, in that an allod is property owned outright, not bestowed by a higher authority.
A commendatory abbot is an ecclesiastic, or sometimes a layman, who holds an abbey in commendam, drawing its revenues but not exercising any authority over its inner monastic discipline. If a commendatory abbot is an ecclesiastic, however, he may have limited jurisdiction.
Advowson or patronage is the right in English law of a patron (avowee) to present to the diocesan bishop a nominee for appointment to a vacant ecclesiastical benefice or church living, a process known as presentation.
Annates were a payment from the recipient of an ecclesiastical benefice to the ordaining authorities. Eventually, they consisted of half or the whole of the first year's profits of a benefice; after the appropriation of right of consecration by the Vatican, they were paid to the papal treasury, ostensibly as a proffered contribution to the church. They were also known as the "first fruits", a religious offering which dates back to earlier Greek, Roman, and Hebrew religions.
In canon law, commendam was a form of transferring an ecclesiastical benefice in trust to the custody of a patron. The phrase in commendam was originally applied to the provisional occupation of an ecclesiastical benefice, which was temporarily without an actual occupant, in contrast to the conferral of a title, in titulum, which was applied to the regular and unconditional occupation of a benefice.
Ecclesiastical jurisdiction signifies jurisdiction by church leaders over other church leaders and over the laity.
During the Middle Ages, a proprietary church was a church, abbey or cloister built on private ground by a feudal lord, over which he retained proprietary interests, especially the right of what in English law is "advowson", that of nominating the ecclesiastic personnel.
The Church Patronage (Scotland) Act 1711 or Patronage Act is an Act of the Parliament of Great Britain. The long title of the act is An Act to restore the Patrons to their ancient Rights of presenting Ministers to the Churches vacant in that Part of Great Britain called Scotland. Its purpose was to allow the noble and other Patrons in Scotland to gain control over the Church of Scotland parish churches again, having lost that custom in the Glorious Revolution.
In the Catholic Church, fabrica ecclesiæ is a term meaning, etymologically, the construction of a church, but in a broader sense the funds necessary for such construction.
Perpetual curate was a class of resident parish priest or incumbent curate within the United Church of England and Ireland. The term is found in common use mainly during the first half of the 19th century. The legal status of perpetual curate originated as an administrative anomaly in the 16th century. Unlike ancient rectories and vicarages, perpetual curacies were supported by a cash stipend, usually maintained by an endowment fund, and had no ancient right to income from tithe or glebe.
Ius or Jus in ancient Rome was a right to which a citizen (civis) was entitled by virtue of his citizenship (civitas). The iura were specified by laws, so ius sometimes meant law. As one went to the law courts to sue for one's rights, ius also meant justice and the place where justice was sought.
A patron is a person or organization that supports another.
The patronato system in Spain was the expression of royal patronage controlling major appointments of Church officials and the management of Church revenues, under terms of concordats with the Holy See. The resulting structure of royal power and ecclesiastical privileges, was formative in the Spanish colonial empire. It resulted in a characteristic constant intermingling of trade, politics, and religion. The papacy granted the power of patronage to the monarchs of Spain and Portugal to appoint clerics because the monarchs "were willing to subsidize missionary activities in newly conquered and discovered territories."
Canonical institution is a technical term of the canon law of the Roman Catholic Church, meaning in practice an institution having full recognition and status within the Church.
"Appeal as from an abuse" is a legal term applied in the canon law of the Catholic Church, meaning originally a legal appeal as recourse to the civil forum (court) against the usurpation by the ecclesiastical forum of the rights of civil jurisdiction. It could also mean a recourse to the ecclesiastical forum against the usurpation by the civil forum of the rights of ecclesiastical jurisdiction.
Canonical provision is a term of the canon law of the Catholic Church, signifying regular induction into a benefice.
The English statute usually called Statute of Provisors is the 25th of Edward III, St. 4 (1350–51), otherwise termed "The Statute of Provisors of Benefices", or anciently De provisoribus. This measure was central to a long disagreement between the English kings and the Roman Curia, concerning filling of ecclesiastical benefices.
Patronage is the support, encouragement, privilege, or financial aid that an organization or individual bestows to another.
The parish with its parish church(es) is the basic territorial unit of the Church of England. The parish has its roots in the Roman Catholic Church and survived the English Reformation largely untouched. Each is within one of 42 dioceses: divided between the thirty of the Canterbury and the twelve of that of York. There are around 12,500 Church of England parishes. Historically, in England and Wales, the parish was the principal unit of local administration for both church and civil purposes; that changed in the 19th century when separate civil parishes were established. Many Church of England parishes still align, fully or in part, with civil parishes boundaries.
