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Do priests and religious have a right to their ancestral property?

Religious Renunciation: Is it voluntary or mandatory?

Through the sacrament of ordination, a Catholic priest shares in the ministerial priesthood of Christ.  Similarly, a Religious is called to live the life of Christ and His mission more radically through the vows of chastity, poverty and obedience.  Both the priests and the religious make voluntary renunciation of their possessions for the sake of the Kingdom.  Nowadays, this voluntary renunciation has become a tool to deny their constitutional and civil rights, especially property rights.  In several cases, they are forced to fight their families because they are denied their rightful share of property for the fact that they are priests or religious.  In other cases, when they divide their ancestral property, either parents or siblings leave out their son/daughter who is a priest or a religious.  Many of the priests and religious struggle to make both ends meet when they choose to leave the dioceses or congregations.  The following case will shed some light on this issue.

A case

Raphael and his wife Mary had three children—George, Xavier and Eleeswa. George, the eldest son, passed away before his parents. Eleeswa, his sister, died leaving behind six children on 4 April 1961.  Xavier entered a religious congregation and was ordained a priest in 1943.  After his ordination, his parents made a will by which they bequeathed their property to him.  Xavier sold a portion of the “Willed Property” to his relations by executing two sale-deeds. The rest of the property, not liable to be divided, remained with him.

Does he suffer “Civil Death” on becoming a priest?

Three children of the deceased George approached the Trial Court seeking partition of the property excluding Xavier and also for a declaration that the two sale-deeds executed by him were not binding on the property.  They contended that no rights derived from the “Will” to Xavier, since he had already become a priest and taken the vow of poverty before the “Will” was made.  They also asserted that Xavier was at best a manager only who had suffered a ”Civil Death” on becoming a priest and that the disputed property was to be divided without giving him a share.

The Trial Court held that Xavier cannot claim right to ancestral property as he was ordained prior to execution of the “will.”  Applying the principles of the Code of Canon Law, the Trial Court declared that priests or nuns cannot hold property once they enter into the Holy Order.  The Trial Court, further, directed the property to be divided among the legal heirs excluding Xavier who had suffered a “Civil Death” on becoming a priest.

Right to Ancestral Property

Xavier, along with others, came up in appeal before the Kerala High Court, pointing out that applying the principles of Canon Law, the Trial Court ignored the statutory provisions of the Indian Succession Act, 1925 (ISA) which are applicable to all ‘Indian Christians.’ Disposing the case, on 7 June 2017, the division bench of the Kerala High Court declared that the Priests and the Religious have right to their ancestral property and denial of such right would amount to violation of their constitutional right to property.

“To hold that one would suffer a ‘civil death’ and be deprived of his property on entering into the Holy Order would be a naked infringement of Article 300-A of the Constitution of India”, the High Court said.  Referring to a case decided by the Supreme Court “If a priest can hold a job, he can have right to ancestral property too,” the High Court said, “We wonder how a priest or nun would suffer a ‘civil death’ for the purpose of succession alone when he/she is very much alive and competent to accept a job on salary or practice as a lawyer receiving fees.”

Being a Priest or Religious is not a “Civil Death”

The Code of Canon Law is a body of principles, standards, rules and norms internal to the Catholic Church, distinct from the civil law.  Being a norm internal to the Catholic Church, it has ceased to be a customary law after its codification in 1917.  Civil rights, especially inheritance and succession of parties, cannot be decided on the basis of Canon Law.  In its pristine sense, when priests and religious severed their natural family ties on entering dioceses or religious congregations, they may be said to have suffered a “civil death” making them ineligible to inherit property either by intestate succession or testamentary succession.  “Civil Death” is inflicted by the courts on persons convicted for the crimes especially against the state, or any adult determined to be legally incompetent because of their mental disability; as a result a citizen loses all civil rights.  By becoming a priest or a religious, does one undergo a “Civil Death”?

Dealing with the obligations and rights of clerics, the Code of Canon Law restricts the management of goods belonging to lay persons, including giving sureties and signing promissory notes (Can 285§4).  Further, the professed religious, by virtue of the vow of poverty, renounces the capacity of acquiring and possessing in favour of the religious institute (Can 668§5).  As a consequence of their voluntary renunciation, they neither own nor administer any property movable or immovable as their own, but administer the same for the achievement of the aims and objectives of their institute in accordance with its rules and regulations set forth.  They bequeath all their property, assets, credits, both movable as well as immovable, in whatever character or wherever situated.

Legislation has Primacy over Personal Laws

The statute passed by the Legislature has primacy over the personal law, and the provisions of the statute shall prevail and override personal law, usage or custom prevailing before legislation.  Governing all ‘Indian Christians’ as regards their inheritance and succession, ISA does not make any departure in the matter of inheritance or succession to Christian priests or religious, whether or not they have taken the vows of poverty, chastity and obedience.  There is no statutory prohibition for them to claim their legitimate share out of the estate of their father or mother. Hence, there cannot be any automatic deprivation of property acquired by way of intestate or testamentary succession by the mere fact that one has entered into the priesthood or religious order and renounced his/her worldly pleasures.  Priests or religious are individuals with all civil rights, who can also voluntarily and freely relinquish the share of their property as per the manner of life they have chosen.

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Fr. Ravi Sagar SJ is a law graduate and holds PG diplomas in labour laws as well as in human rights.  He founded the Legal Cell for Human Rights Guwahati (LCHR) and served as its director till July 2017.  He has been a practising advocate at Gauhati High Court, Guwahati, for over 15 years. ravisagarsj@gmail.com

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The story of a humble watchman who, in the midst of poverty and illness,  found peace in praying to Jesus.

Nagaraj, the security guard at a local nursing home, was a weaver at the erstwhile Binny and Co., a company set up in the 19^th century by John Binny, which was later amalgamated with the Bangalore Mills and came to be known as the Buckingham and Carnatic Mills. When the company shut shop due to flooding of its premises in 1996 followed by a lock out declared in 1997, Nagaraj found himself without a job. He worked at sundry jobs, including that of a porter and painter.  Soon after, he and members of his family were plagued with illness one after another. Their finances plummeted. Starvation looked him in the eye. During these trying times he visited several temples and sought the help of many people, but to no avail.

The Votive Shrine of the Immaculate Heart of Mary was on his route to work. One day, Nagaraj hesitantly stepped into the portals of this Church and cried to the Lord, seeking His intervention in solving the desperate situation his family was in. On leaving the Church, he realised that his mind was at peace and his sense of despair had left him. He said: “The Lord Jesus not only took away our troubles and healed us of our ailments. Nothing unfortunate has happened to us since that fateful day when I visited the Church for the first time.”

By religion, Nagaraj is a Hindu, not a Christian. But any of us can learn from his godliness and the very devout way he attends Mass. Rain or sunshine, Nagaraj has been attending the Eucharistic celebration every morning at the Votive Shrine of the Immaculate Heart of Mary for the last five years. There are days when the city faces bad weather—including torrential rain and flooding—with the result that very few people turn up for Mass. Even on such days, Nagaraj’s six-foot frame can be seen in one of the pews at the rear of the Church. Hearing of his Church visits, his wife started going to a Church close to their home and more recently has become a member of the Pentecostal Church.  I jokingly asked him, “When do you take a day off from Mass?” Pat came the reply, “Only when the church is on leave!”

What amazes me is his attentiveness during Mass, whether standing or kneeling, day after day. He is there before most daily Mass-goers come in and begins his exit as soon as the distribution of Holy Communion starts. He walks up to the Crucifix at the back of the church and reverently prays before it, placing his hands on the Crucifix and then on himself—eyes, ears, and the rest of the body—and finally making a deep bow before leaving the church.

Since he leaves before the Mass is over, he does not interact with anyone in the parish, nor can I remember anyone inquiring about him. I asked him if he knew anyone in the parish. He replied: “Only one or two doctors who practise at the Nursing home where I work and a few other people who come to the nursing home recognise me. I am not in uniform, you see! After Mass I get to the nursing home, change into uniform and am at my post on time. I believe in being punctual. I also try to help everyone who comes to the nursing home, be it getting a parking space or giving a helping hand to an elderly patient.”

Nagaraj has learnt all the prayers and hymns and participates in the Eucharistic celebration like any devout Catholic. Says he: “Today, my life is only around Jesus. I am thinking of receiving Baptism and becoming a Catholic.”  He is blessed with two sons, both of whom remain unmarried because of their poverty, but Nagaraj has tremendous faith in the Lord. He says, “Jesus will provide; I am not worried about our situation”.

He also said to me, “I will continue to come to Church, pray and trust in the Lord Jesus as long as I live… No turning back, no turning back!”

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Ordetta Mendoza

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What attracts young people to religious life are not slick brochures or the so-called “vocation camps,” but their own God-experience and the inspiring lives of religious.

The young observe us. They have an “antenna” to sense who is genuine and who is not. They can see whether we look happy or not. They can generally make out who is God-centred and who is worldly.

The best do not come for positions or comfort or financial security. They seek ways of getting closer to God, living the Gospel message whole-heartedly and making a difference in the lives of others, especially of the poor.

Are our lives an inspiring and challenging example?

Are we, as Pope Francis—a religious himself—often tells us, joyful and prophetic witnesses?

Here are the things a group of young religious and novices found attractive in the lives of the religious they know.

Want to try guessing their answers before you actually read them? If so, list the three things you think today’s young people find most attractive about religious life. Now check your guesses with the actual replies of thirty-one young religious and novices.

Top-rated Attractions

Prayer came first. It was, very clearly, the top-rated attraction. Thirteen of them found prayer and God-centredness the most appealing aspect of religious life.

Sample responses:

“Complete dedication to live for the Lord attracts me most.”

“What attracts me is belonging to God and being a partner in the mission of Christ.”

“The way religious spend time in prayer.”

“Blending of prayer, work and community life.”

“Silence and unity attract me. It helps me to grow closer to God.”

“Prayer life, especially gazing at the Blessed Sacrament.”

Linked to this is this second aspect: Closeness to Jesus. Eleven mentioned this as the best thing about religious life.

“The person of Jesus attracts me most.”

“To be a joyful witness of Christ.”

“The close intimacy with Christ attracts me.”

“In the ups and downs of life, religious are happy because of their closeness to Christ. This attracts me.”

Next came community life. Seven respondents were inspired by the community life they had experienced.

“Religious from different backgrounds, cultures, languages, etc., live together, set their minds on the person of Christ.”

Six of them were attracted by the service religious render to people, especially to the poor.

“Religious combine prayer life with service to the poor and teaching children.”

“Fight for justice for the poor for whom no one cares—this attracts me.”

Four were inspired by the simplicity of life they noticed in religious.

“The simple way of life attracts me.”

The following traits were mentioned by one or two respondents each: Joy, silence, asceticism, the vows, hard work, teaching children, accepting suffering without complaining.

In one word, religious who are prayerful, close to God, create loving community and serve the poor are the most likely to inspire and attract today’s young people. Nothing surprising in this, right?

The young have got the order right: Closeness to God, loving relationships, service of the poor.

God, love, service: Who can find fault with these priorities?

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(I thank Sr Mariola Sequeira MSA for collecting the responses of the junior sisters and novices.—Editor)

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The Gospel of Luke presents Jesus as the one anointed by God to preach the good news to the poor (4:18). The evangelist brings together verses from the Septuagint version of Isaiah 61:1 and 58:6 in Jesus’ preaching in Nazareth (4:16-20). In these few verses we find the following themes: the anointing of the Spirit, the description of the work of God’s anointed prophet, and the presentation of Jesus’s mission as bringing good news to the poor and fulfilling the Scriptures.

Gospel Teachings:

The Greek word used in Luke 4:18 to refer to the poor is ptochos, which means not just the poor but rather the economically destitute—the ones who are desperately in want. The Hebrew term for the poor anawim has a broader connotation. The anawim refers not just to the economically destitute, but also to the socially marginalized groups, such as widows, orphans, refugees, the mentally ill, the physically challenged, the outcast, and the sick—all those who are victims of one or another form of oppression or exclusion. Later in the history of Israel, the word anawim acquired a religious meaning referring to the ones who have placed their total trust in God (Psalm 86). As Jesus spoke in Aramaic (not in Greek), all these nuances of anawim would have been perceived and implied by Jesus when he announces his mission as bringing good news to the poor. Later, Jesus announces God’s blessing on the poor (Luke 6:20).

Earlier in Luke’s gospel, Mary’s Magnificat praises the Lord for lifting up the lowly and sending the rich away empty (Luke 1:52-53). The spiritual poverty, fear of God or non-attachment to material things, power and positions, is good and a necessary disposition for salvation. But the oppressive and dehumanizing poverty is an evil which needs to be completely eradicated from the face of the earth. Jesus understood his mission as bringing good news to the poor. He identified himself with them and remained totally committed to changing the plight and destiny of the poor.

Jesus as presented by Luke has compassion on the poor, women, Samaritans, sinners, tax collectors and outcasts of all sorts. Jesus eats with the sinners (5:30), his teaching focuses on the dangers of wealth and the need for social justice (16:13; 18:24), he defends the woman who weeps at his feet (7:36-50) and praises the Samaritan leper who returns to give thanks (17:11-19). Inclusive meals and table fellowship with tax collectors and sinners were so characteristic of Jesus’ mission in the synoptic traditions (Mark 2:15-16; Matthew 11:19; Luke 7:34). Like the OT prophets, Jesus was committed to bringing Israel back to God and was in search of the lost sheep of Israel—sinners and those who lived on the margins of the Jewish community (Luke 4: 16-21; 15:6; Matthew 10:6).

Today’s Challenges:

As disciples of Jesus and consecrated persons, we are called to participate in Jesus’s mission of bringing good news to the poor. Jesus came announcing deliverance, God’s promise of liberation for all the poor and marginalized regardless of nationality, gender, or race. The poor addressed by Jesus would include all—the economically poor, the socially excluded, the politically oppressed, the culturally marginalized, the sexually exploited, the mentally harassed, the humanly abandoned, and the religiously persecuted. Jesus was the good news, and we too must become the good news that we want to proclaim, not so much by more words as rather by our life. Jesus presented God’s love to people in the way he lived, that is, in feeding the hungry, comforting the humiliated, celebrating the dignity of women, healing the sick, and giving hope to the hopeless, sight to the blind, freedom to the captives and sinners, justice to the poor, and life to the dead.

Jesus’ radical poverty, unconditional love and the profound openness to the will of God has to become a source of inspiration for our daily life. We are called to make our own Jesus’ identification with the poor, his blazing anger at injustice, human rights violations and discrimination against women, his radical inclusive approach, and his passion for God’s reign. We are called to say YES to God, to self, and to God’s people—always in favour of God’s choices of the less privileged ones in the church and society, making God’s reign or God’s intervention into human history more and more visible.

In the challenging words of Pope Francis, “If we want to help change history and promote real development, we need to hear the cry of the poor and commit ourselves to ending their marginalization.”

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One day, a diocesan seminarian, my student, tells me, “Why do we say that St John Mary Vianney is the patron saint of parish priests? I find Archbishop Romero a more inspiring model.”

He is making a valid point. There is no one model for holiness. Both Vianney and Romero can inspire us, just as one may be a “fan” of St Therese of Lisieux, while another may learn much from Martin Luther King or Nelson Mandela.

A passion for justice and the willingness to challenge oppression, and pay a price for it—this is both Biblical and a much-needed aspect of Christian spirituality.

It is often easier—and can be a selfish escape—simply to pray for the poor or for the world, than to get involved to improve things.

Today, there are many martyrs of justice, men and women who pay a heavy price—loss of job, false cases, opposition from the powerful—for taking a stand for justice.  Think of Sr Rani Maria, or Sr Valsa John, or the Jesuit Martyrs of the University of Central America. They would not have made enemies if they had limited their Christian faith to saying their prayers.

The stand for justice begins in our own homes and institutions. Do we pay our workers a just salary? Are their working conditions fair and human? How do we deal with them? Do we look down on people because of their poverty, or ethnicity or gender?

You may have head the words of the much-loved (and much-persecuted) Brazilian bishop, Dom Helder Camara, “When I say we must help the poor, they call me a saint. When I ask why they are poor, they call me a Communist.” While most people are ready to do some charity, they are not ready to be challenged on matters of justice—e.g., land ownership, wages, working conditions.

Archbishop Romero, for instance, said that the most basic form of violence in his country (El Salvador) was structural injustice. Fourteen families owned most of the land. Anyone who protested was opposed, branded a Communist, and even killed. He was shot dead the day after he appealed to the soldiers to stop killing the poor.

Justice is more basic than doing charity. While we need to help at least some people through acts of charity, the more important thing is to create just structures where people are treated justly and get their rights.

For us, members of religious orders, who run institutions, our main concern cannot be how to save money or how to make money for our congregation, but how we serve the people, especially the poor. More basic than doing acts of charity for them (e.g., or giving money during an illness) is treating them justly.

Justice refers to three areas: money, gender and ethnicity.

Money: How is it that the top one percent in our country own 73 percent of the nation’s wealth? Or how can the super-rich swindle the banks for thousands of crores, while a needy person cannot get a small loan? In our own institutions, have we put in place just salaries and working conditions?

Money is the largest area of injustice. The only thing the New Testament calls “the root of all evil” is love of money.

Gender is another area. Do we bring up our sons and daughters with this sense of mutual respect? Do our marriages and the way women are treated in Church circles reflect a sense of equality and mutual respect? How far have we swallowed uncritically our culture’s low esteem for women?

Ethnicity: Do I look down upon some persons as lower, or disparage them, or treat them badly, because they belong to a particular race or caste or tribe? Will every human being, irrespective of ethnicity, get the same and respectful treatment from me?

Justice builds a beautiful world where human beings are treated as human beings, where all have access to opportunities—and no one is excluded from power or freedom or upward mobility because of poverty, or gender or being born into a particular group.

May our faith and our spiritual quest not be limited to conventional piety. May it find clear expression in a courageous and caring stand for justice, both in our institutions and in the larger world. Spirituality is far more than private devotion.

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Taare Zameen Par

Director/producer: Aamir Khan; Writer: Amole Gupte; Cast:  Aamir Khan, Darsheel Safary, Sachet Engineer, Tisca Chopra, Vipin Sharma; Run time:165 minutes. 2007.

The film addresses a usually ignored problem in schools. It tells the story of a dyslexic child who faces misunderstanding and ill treatment from parents and teachers on account of his reading disability. His redemption starts when an understanding teacher steps into his life.

The dyslexic Ishaan Awasthi is an otherwise normal schoolboy of eight. His elder brother excels in studies. Ishaan’s teachers and parents fail to identify his problem and treat him as lazy and truant. In school he is the butt of laughter and ill-treatment. His parents shift him to a boarding school in hope of ‘disciplining’ him. But it only makes matters worse. Lonely and homesick in the new school, Ishaan becomes introverted and withdrawn.

Into his troubled world comes the new arts teacher Ram Shankar Nikumbh. Nikumbh identifies the little boy’s problem and helps him out of his shell. Ishaan is talented in painting. He has a great feel for nature and animals and is highly imaginative. This becomes his winning point and the arts teacher is able to convince his parents about this. The climax of the movie is when Ishaan comes out winner in a school painting competition. His parents are relieved and overjoyed to see their son in a new light. The movie is a heart-warming experience, enhanced by Shankar Mahadevan’s musical score and some fine graphic animation that evokes the fantasy world of a child.  It is a lesson in empathy for marginalised children, an inspiration for teachers and parents everywhere. As its subtitle says: “Every child is special.”

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Salaam Bombay

Director: Mira Nair. Cast: Shafiq Syed, Hansa Vithal, Chanda Sharma, Raghuvir Yadav, Anita Kanwar, Nana Patekar, Irrfan Khan.  113 minutes, 1983.

The film’s narrative centres on Krishna, a little boy who is sent out of his house by his mother for setting fire to his elder brother’s motorbike. He has to earn Rs 500 to repay his brother for the damages. He works in a circus. One day, when he is on errands, the circus leaves. The little destitute arrives in Mumbai, where street boys rob everything he has. But he soon makes friends with them, especially with Chillum, who finds work for him as a tea-carrier in a red-light district. Chillum is a drug-addict enslaved by Baba, the drug-dealer whose wife is a prostitute.  Baba’s wife is frustrated by the thought of bringing up their only daughter in such situation. But Baba is unwilling to take them elsewhere. Krishna develops a crush on a new girl named Sola Saal at the brothel. He supports her in resisting her initiation into prostitution, and tries to rescue her by setting fire to the house. They are caught.  He is beaten up and fired from his job.  The madam of the house asks Baba to ‘break’ Sola Saal into her ‘work.’ Krishna does all kinds of menial jobs to earn money to support himself and the hopelessly addicted Chillum, including a burglary. Chillum steals Krishna’s money and overdoses himself to death. One night Krishna and Baba’s daughter are taken by the police and put in a juvenile home. The boy escapes to return to the street. Krishna’s hope of eloping with Sola Saal are dashed when she tells him that she is charmed by Baba and does not care about Krishna and moves off to meet her first “client.” The enraged boy kills Baba and tries to run away with Baba’s wife. They get separated in a procession. The movie was developed from the actual experiences of Mumbai street children.  The filming was done entirely on location. It throws light on the conditions of life lived literally in the streets of Indian cities, and the inadequacy and casual cruelty of social institutions meant to help the people living on the edge. We also see the dignity and resilience of people who are treated as “non-persons.”

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I Am Nujood, Age 10 and Divorced

By Nujood Ali. Delphine Minoui Linda Coverdale, Translator. 2010.

 This book is the autobiography of Nujood Ali, an illiterate Yemeni girl who received international attention for her courageous stand against barbaric social practices.

Nujood was born into a large Muslim family in Yemen. Her father practiced polygamy. Her brothers went to school. At age nine, she was taken out of school and married to a thirty-one-year old man. There is a Yemeni tribal proverb: “To guarantee a happy marriage, marry a nine-year-old girl.”  Raped by her husband on the very first night, mentally and physically abused by her mother-in-law, Nujood found life a horror. After two months of this, she escaped from the in-laws’ house. Her father’s second wife advised her to seek a divorce. In Yemen, such a thing was unimaginable. She ran away with the money given to her to buy bread, and went to the court. A judge took her into his protection and ordered her husband and father to be taken into custody. The advocates in the city and the press supported her cause.

The young girl’s courage and determination became a sensation in Yemen.  International media and human rights activists made her a heroine of human rights. Her case served to highlight the cause of young girls facing sexual slavery in the name of marriage. Nujood says, “I’m a simple village girl who has always obeyed the orders of my father and brothers. Since forever, I have learned to say yes to everything. Today I have decided to say no.”  Shada Nasser (Nujood calls her as “second mother”), a women’s rights activist and advocate, represented her in court. Nujood became the first child bride in Yemen to win a divorce in a country where nearly half the prepubescent girls are married off to senior men. She returned to school with the dream of becoming a lawyer and helping girls in similar situations.  She faced government persecution. In 2008, Glamour magazine chose her, along with Hillary Clinton and Condoleezza Rice, as Women of the Year. One result of her action: Yemen raised the minimum age of marriage from 15 to 18.

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Three Cups of Tea: One Man’s Mission to Promote Peace … One School at a Time.

Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin. Penguin. 2006.

This memoir of Greg Mortenson, the co-founder of non-profit ‘Central Asia Institute (CAI), Pennies for Peace’ tells his experience of trying to build schools and hospitals in the remote villages of  Afghanistan and Pakistan during the days of Taliban terror. The title refers to the Afghan custom of hospitality according to which the third cup of tea shared with a guest makes him almost a family member. Mortenson had such an experience when he stumbled into Korphe, after his failed attempt to climb K 2, the second tallest mountain in the world to honour his late sister Christa, who was disabled. He ended up building a school for girls in the remote Korphe, tucked away among the Karakoram Mountains.  He saw children attempting to learn writing without the help of a trained teacher, writing with sticks in mud. In return for the villagers’ hospitality, he promised to build a school for them.

Mortenson saved money from his salary as a nurse. His missionary parents had built a hospital and a school in Tanzania where he and his sister grew up.  His struggle to raise funds received the generous support of the wealthy physicist and mountaineer Jean Horni.

Despite the perils of traveling and living in the difficult terrain, as well as personal tragedies at home, he finished the project. His wife and friends also joined in for support.

The CAI helped to build more schools in the mountains. But the violent Taliban and some mullahs were against girls’ education. The Taliban destroyed some of these schools. Mortenson himself survived two kidnappings and two fatwas. Organisational problems also plagued him in America. The Taliban terrorist groups built madrassas in place of secular schools where they trained boys for terror. He faced opposition and hate from both sides.  This book became an instant best seller and Time Magazine’s Asia Book of The Year.

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Personal Accountability

Accountability comes in when we work for someone else or when something is entrusted to us.  In our religious context, all priests and religious are working for the Church, through our dioceses or religious congregations.  In secular terms, we work for a registered charitable trust or society.  Thus, in both cases, we are working for someone else. Whatever we administer, we administer it on behalf of the Church and the registered trust or society.   This calls for accountability for whatever we do or/and spend, either on ourselves or on the apostolic works. In our religious context, we are accountable to our superiors; in secular terms, we are accountable to the Trust/Income Tax official, who has allowed us the “income tax exemption” status.  Therefore, according to Canon 1284 §1,  all administrators are to “perform their duties with the diligence of a good householder.”

Usually we take a sum of money as advance, from the Minister/Treasurer, for our expenditure.  Going by the understanding spelt out above, it is only natural that we are accountable for it.  This would mean submitting the financial account for the sum of money we have received and spent, whether on personal needs or on the needs of the apostolic works.  It does not stop there.  We are also accountable for the amount of money we receive personally as a gift, donation or remuneration. Thus, it is clear that we are held accountable for the sum of money received for our use from our friends and relatives, the sum of money we received as remuneration for our services, as well as the amount we take from the Minister/Treasurer for our needs or the needs of the apostolic works.

Some of us still do not know how to prepare the accounts.   Normally it is done as shown below:

	Date: __________
Account for personal expenses:
Particulars	Expenditure (Rs)	Income (Rs)
Amount received from the Minister/Treasurer		5000
Received as remuneration/gift		500
Travel with food and auto/taxi fare	2250
Clothes	850
Medicine	1200
Stationery	300
Toiletries	450
Total Expenditure	5050
Balance returned	450
Grand Total	5500	5500
____________
Signature

The account shown here is the master account for personal expenses, prepared and signed, with date, by the person concerned.   Similarly, if the account is for an apostolic purpose, it is mentioned on the top as “school office account,” “staff welfare programme account,” “farm account,” etc.   Below this master account, all supporting bills and vouchers are grouped and attached in the same order as given in the master account so that auditing becomes easier.

From the income tax point of view, it is necessary that we submit the original (pacca) tax paid bills, as much as possible, at least for amounts exceeding Rs 300.  It is always preferable that we pay a little extra and get a tax paid bill than buying from the roadside without any bill, just because it is cheaper.   For travel, we are expected to submit the train or bus ticket and, if it is a flight ticket, the boarding pass as well, all in original. For food during journey and auto or taxi fare, we can write a separate voucher, sign with date and attach the same.  It is much better that we submit our account with all supports immediately after we have spent the money, so that we/our trust does not get in to unnecessary problems with the income tax officials later. As registered public charitable trusts, we have to be accountable for all the income and expenditure we incur on ourselves or on the apostolic works.

Accountability of a Society/Trust

In the case of a Society or Trust, too, we are held accountable. Normally, the Treasurer of the Society or Trust, on behalf of the Governing Body, presents the financial report of the Society to the members of the General Body.  This is how it has to be.  But in many Trusts or Societies, this practice is either not there or even if it is there, it is done as a routine procedure without much seriousness.   As members of the Governing Body, each one has to realize that they are all entrusted with the responsibility of running the Society/Trust and thus take his/her role seriously and be involved in the process of financial accountability.

Normally, the financial report contains the following information: the annual income and expenditure, liabilities and recoverables, new assets purchased, extra-ordinary income (e.g., donations), extraordinary expenditure (e.g., major renovation or construction works), volume of increase in the funds of the Society or Trust, investment income earned and the final surplus or deficit data.  On presenting these data, the members are free to ask for any clarification or give suggestions.

Accountability of an Institution

When an institution raises funds for a particular purpose, we are accountable to all those who contributed for the cause. Normally a thanksgiving function is organized in their honour and their contributions are acknowledged in public.  A report of the activity and its financial report are presented to them in common or are sent to them all by post.  Here too it is clearly shown whether the whole amount is utilized or there is any balance left.

Accountability in a Parish

Accountability plays a vital role in a parish too.  The Parish Priest, together with his Parish Council, is accountable to the parishioners. Be it the Sunday collections or any other collections, the parishioners are informed of all the total collections, expenses incurred and the balance in the account.

Project Accountability

Project Liability is another area in which we all have to be accountable.  Here we are accountable to the donor agency. The accounts are given in the way the agency desires. Some may ask for the financial and activity report together, others may ask for all accounts and at least the copy of all bills and supports. A few others may ask for the audit report or utilization certificate from a chartered accountant.  It is better that we present the financial report against the budget we had proposed to the donor when we submitted the project, so that they can easily follow the report against the budget they had approved.  The future support of the donors depends on the way we are accountable to them now.

The next issue will deal with the budget.

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Brother Ignatius, a perpetually professed brother in a religious congregation, decided to leave and applied for an “indult” to leave the institute.  When the “rescript” arrived from Rome, he refused to accept it.  The superiors permitted him to continue his religious life.  Is it right from the part of the superiors to permit him to stay on even after the Holy See granted the permission to leave?  Would you also explain the terms, ‘indult’ and ‘rescript’?

We shall begin with explaining these terms: (i)The word ‘indult’ is derived from the Latin word indultum meaning a ‘favour’ or ‘privilege’ or ‘dispensation’ or ‘special permission’ granted by the competent superior.  (ii) The term ‘rescript’ comes from the Latin re-scribere meaning a response in writing by the competent authority.The competent authority in both cases is: For a pontifical right institute, it is the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life;for a patriarchal right institute,the Patriarch and for a diocesan right institute, it is the diocesan bishopof the diocese where the generalate resides (CIC c. 691§2; CCEO c. 549§2, 1º,2º).

The term ‘indult to leave the institute’ is also called ‘secularisation’.  It refers to the definitive departure of a member from the religious institute.  It concerns, just as in exclaustration, only with the perpetually professed and not temporarily professed members.

“A perpetually professed religious is not to seek an indult to leave the institute, except for the gravest of reasons, weighed before the Lord.  The petition is to be presented to the supreme Moderator of the institute, who will forward it to the competent authority with his or her own opinion and that of the council.”  “A member in perpetual vows is not to request an indult to leave an order or congregation and to return to secular life except for the most grave causes.  The religious is to present his or her petition to the superior general, who is to send it, along with a personal opinion and the opinion of his or her council to the competent authority” (CIC c. 691§1; CCEO c. 549§1).

The wording in the canons is in superlative degree emphasizing the seriousness of the act.  Hence a purely subjective judgment by an individual is not sufficient.  It can be requested only for most grave reasons weighed before the Lord.  The gravest reasons could be genuine inability to observe the obligations of religious life; absence of religious vocation; the incapacity, not merely difficulty, to live community life; or repeated violations of the vows.  Hence before applying, the member is to seek counsel from qualified persons like spiritual director, confessor or superiors.

The petition is to be addressed to the Holy See/Patriarch/Diocesan Bishop through the mediation of the superior general.  The personal opinion of the superior general and that of the council are to be forwarded along with the petition.  Even when the opinion is not favourable to the petitioner,it can still be forwarded.  In certain cases, the superiors may propose this alternative in order to avoid the process of dismissal. The request is subsequently, not necessarily, granted through a rescript.  The one petitioning for an indult does not have absolute right for it.  Therefore, it is granted as a ‘concession’ of the competent authority.

The rescript is made known to the member by the superior general.  If there is a practical difficulty for the superior general to communicate, they may delegate the provincial to do so.  Upon the notification of the rescript and acceptance by the religious, the member is automatically dispensed from the obligation of keeping the three vows and the membership of the member in the institute ceases.  The incident that took place in the congregation, who raised the above questions, is a rare occurrence. However, it is right because the canon law gives the right and freedom to the petitioner to accept or reject the indult at the time of intimation. If during the interval between the petition and the rescript, the cause has changed or there was a change of heart, the individual mayreject the indult.  However, the rejection has to be expressed in some public form, either in writing or in the presence of at least one reliable witness.  In case the religious concerned reject the rescript, the indult becomes inoperative and has to be sent back to the conceding/granting authority with the annotation/explanation of the refusal by the petitioner. (CIC c. 692; CCEO c. 493§1).If the petitioner is a cleric, the indult is not granted before he finds a Bishop who agrees to accept him in his jurisdiction permanently or at least experimentally for a period of five years (CIC c. 693; CCEO c. 494).

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“Who am I really?” This is a question all of us ask ourselves sometime in our life. Some of us find an answer, others continue to keep asking the question. Jesus was asked this question, and He asked his close friends who they thought He was.

Emotionally healthy persons tend to have clear and convincing answers to the question “Who am I?”

In psychoanalyst Erik Erikson’s developmental schema, “identity formation” is the crucial task to be accomplished during adolescence. But we can struggle with issues of identity all through life.

Personality psychologist Dan McAdams presented identity as an evolving story that integrates a reconstructed past, a perceived present, and an anticipated future into a coherent and vitalising life myth. Our personal life myth “is a special kind of story that each of us naturally constructs to bring together the different parts of ourselves and our lives into a purposeful and meaningful whole.” In other words, when we achieve identity, we are able to bring together all of our past experiences, current realities and future goals and aspirations to create a picture of who we are and who we want to be.

Erikson described three significant ways in which identity formation can fail. These are identity foreclosure, identity confusion and negative identity. It is useful to understand these failures.

FORECLOSED IDENTITY

Identity foreclosure is a premature (without much reflection or soul-searching) resolution of the identity issue. We can slip easily into a role expected of us by family or community. We may not in any way identify with this role or find it meaningful. But the internalisation of the expectation of others, a process which is often unconscious, pushes us into identity foreclosure. A sense of dissatisfaction and lack of fulfilment, often with no knowledge of its source, is the result.

This was the case of Fr. Conrad. He grew up in a very religious family. His father had wanted to be a priest. But family circumstances demanded that he put aside that dream. However, he wanted to relive that dream though his son. In both subtle and overt ways, he encouraged Conrad to pursue an ecclesiastical career, even though what
Conrad really wanted was to pursue a career in finance. Five years after his ordination Conrad left the priesthood and joined an insurance company and later moved into a banking career.

NEGATIVE IDENTITY

A negative identity develops when we conform to an image of us that is contrary to family or cultural ideals but which is projected on to us by the same family or community. For example, the family may not approve the way we are living or of our life choices and label us as the “black sheep” of the family. In such a situation we may strive hard to prove the family right by living up to that negative label, adopting and engaging more and more in behaviours that are socially disapproved. Or, while in school, a teacher might ridicule us describing us as “good for nothing.” We might then adopt behaviours that fit the label and really turn out to be a good for nothing. We sabotage our own welfare and happiness and hurt ourselves by going out of our way to prove our detractors right.

Negative identity can develop also from idealisation of or identification with someone devalued by family or community but who we idealise. For example, in our childhood or youth we may have idealised an uncle or an aunt whom we loved very much and wanted to be like. It happened that this beloved uncle or aunt was also an alcoholic. As we grow up we may also identify with our uncle’s or aunt’s alcoholism and ourselves become alcoholic.

IDENTITY CONFUSION

Identity confusion occurs when we are unable to make up our minds as to who we are or who we want to be. We are unable to make a commitment to any single view of ourselves. This may be because we are caught up in conflicting values or lack the confidence to make meaningful and lasting decisions. Young religious who are unable to decide if they want to make their perpetual profession or not, provide a relevant example. They keep postponing a decision.

ACHIEVED IDENTITY

A healthy and positive resolution of the task of identity formation leads to identity achievement. The pathway to identity achievement is through role experimentation. Erikson termed this period of free experimentation of various roles and identities before a final identity is achieved psycho-social moratorium. Before we make a final choice of what we want to be, we need to look carefully at and even experiment with various options by living them out for a period—in fantasy or reality. We have to do some real soul-searching about who we want to be and what we want to do, and then make definitive choices.

According to Erikson, identity achievement moves us toward becoming and functioning as well-adjusted adults, with a fine balance of love and work—forming healthy relationships and engaging in meaningful and constructive activities. We become creative and productive, and contribute to the welfare of society.

IDENTITY AND FORMATION

It is quite likely that many candidates to religious and priestly life, especially those who joined as adolescents, are in identity foreclosed status. They may not have given enough attention to role experimentation. One of the important tasks of formation is to provide them opportunities for such experimentation, and not just to help them confirm the choices they have made, perhaps prematurely.

Sometimes we come across priests and religious who do not seem to have any opinion of their own. In answering questions, or when asked for an opinion, they tend to quote a document or the words of a superior. Lack of an opinion of our own or over-reliance on the opinion or expertise of others is often a symptom of a lack of a strong sense of identity.

LIFE-LONG PROCESS

Although Erikson postulated that identity formation is something that happens in adolescence, recent theory and research show that individuals engage in a lifelong process of identity formation. Thus, even if we have had a strong sense of achieved identity for a considerable period of our lives, we can still shift back into identity confusion, often triggered by new and unexpected experiences or developments in our lives. Such falling back is a positive thing, because we can now do further soul-searching and re-confirm our identity or choose a new one and move toward a deeper level of identity achievement. For example, a priest or religious who falls in love in mid-life, may move into identity confusion, even if he or she had achieved a clear sense of identity earlier. Such falling in love leads him or her to ask some fundamental questions about who they want to be. A decision made after struggling with these questions can strengthen and consolidate one’s identity or help choose a new identity that seems more in keeping with one’s deepest desires.

KNOW YOUR DEEP LONGINGS

We develop a deeper sense of our identity when we take time to confront ourselves. Such deeper sense of identity does not come from the external realities or the roles we play. It comes from recognising our deepest desires and longings and the dynamics operating behind our conscious selves.

Such an encounter with our deeper self occurs only in the depths of solitude. One of the areas candidates to religious life and priesthood have to be trained in is precisely this. They have to be trained to immerse themselves in and be comfortable with consciously and deliberately chosen solitude, especially in this age of instant communications and easily available media distractions, so that they can encounter themselves in greater depth and honesty. Creating an ambience conducive to such solitude is an important task of religious and priestly formation.

For Reflection

• Have I struggled with issues of identity? If yes, in what way?
• What is my current identity status: foreclosed, negative, confused, or achieved? What makes me conclude this?
• Am I in touch with my deepest longings?
• Do I see the value of solitude and use it to know myself more in depth?

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