Page 8 - Demo

When most religious entered religious life, it is unlikely they gave much thought to the prospect of having to be a charity trustee. It was unlikely to ever be
part of the religious’ vocation, and would certainly not have formed part of
the individual’s formation. However, nowadays many religious nd themselves having to be charity trustees and there being an automatic assumption that they will know what the job entails.
This handbook aims to demystify some of the role and explain for your bene t the basics of what you need to know in order to do the job properly. But before we look at speci c charity trustee duties, we have to go right back to
the beginning.
SO WHY DO WE HAVE TO HAVE A CHARITY?
The more onerous running a charity becomes, the more likely you are to ask this question!
Under canon law, your institute is a juridic person, which is recognised as a “physical” entity in its own right, a bit like a limited company under English law.
Canon law provides in Canon 634§1 that the institute is “capable of acquiring, possessing, administering, and alienating temporal goods”. It also provides
in Canon 635§1, that the temporal goods are governed by Book V on the "Temporal Goods of the Church".
Canon law is very clear that the temporal goods of the Church are to be administered “independently from civil power” (Canon 1254§1) which would suggest that an institute does not need a charity and that it should be free of oversight from perhaps the Charity Commission.
However, the dif culty with this concept of “independence” is that English law does not recognise canon law as being legally enforceable. Therefore, as far
as English law is concerned, the institute does not exist as an entity in its own right and cannot hold property or assets. In England and Wales, it is therefore necessary to actually ensure that the ownership of the institute’s assets is recognised in some way that is compatible with civil law.
4 Chapter 1