Who owns parish real estate?In Oregon, where the Roman Catholic archdiocese arch·di·o·cese n. The district under an archbishop's jurisdiction. arch  di·oc is in bankruptcy
and its assets subject to seizure Forcible possession; a grasping, snatching, or putting in possession.In Criminal Law, a seizure is the forcible taking of property by a government law enforcement official from a person who is suspected of violating, or is known to have violated, the law. , the archdiocese claims that parish church buildings and land are the property of the individual parishes, and therefore cannot be seized from the parishes by the court ("Oregon Archbishop Resists Church Property Ruling," AU Bulletin, February Church & State). In Boston, where the archdiocese has lost court cases to and made settlements with victims of priestly priest·ly adj. priest·li·er, priest·li·est 1. Of or relating to a priest or the priesthood. 2. Characteristic of or suitable for a priest. sexual abuse that require payment of many millions of dollars, the archdiocese claims that parish church buildings and land are the property of the archdiocese, and therefore can be seized from the parishes by the archdiocese and sold. (The archdiocese, of course, treats this money as fungible A description applied to items of which each unit is identical to every other unit, such as in the case of grain, oil, or flour. Fungible goods are those that can readily be estimated and replaced according to weight, measure, and amount. , usable for settlements or any other church purpose as it desires.) What is the church law? Joel Berson Arlington, Mass. |
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