Economic Activity in the Church – the Penal Dimension. Comments on the Amendment to Canon 1376 CIC

Abstract

The 1983 Code of Canon Law does not contain any norms regulating the economic activity of ecclesiastical juridic persons. This does not mean, however, that canon law has no regard for that. The ecclesiastical legislator’s concern for the supervision of economic activity is expressed in the regulation of rather complex ways of managing church property, including the special act of its alienation, and determination of penal sanctions for violating the relevant rules. The penal norm of Canon 1377 that was previously in force, penalizing the alienation of church property without the requisite permission, has now been significantly extended. Pope Francis, reforming Book VI of the Code of Canon Law, expanded the scope and principles of penal liability for economic abuses by redacting Canon 1376 anew. The norm of this provision penalises the offence of misappropriating or preventing the gaining of benefits from church goods (which was previously absent from the Code) and the offence of performing unlawful acts in the administration of church goods (which has been significantly extended). Reflecting on the penal aspect of administration of church property, the article attempts to answer the following questions: What are these offences? What was the legislator’s intention? What is the essence of the penal law reform in the area at hand?