Source: http://portal.syrdio.org/parish-resources/parish-policies-and-proceedures/norms-for-parish-finance-councils
Timestamp: 2019-04-22 10:55:29+00:00

Document:
The pastor1 serves as the representative of the parish for all juridic affairs (canons 532, 1279, §1). This includes responsibility that temporal goods are acquired, administered, and sold according to the norm of law (canons 1282, 1284). In fulfilling his responsibilities, the pastor is accountable to the bishop (canon 1276).
Canon law requires that all parishes have a finance council to advise and assist the pastor in fulfilling his responsibilities (canons 537, 1280).
The purpose of the parish finance council is to advise and assist the pastor in the administration of the temporal goods of the parish. When votes are taken, members are not to vote unless fully informed about the matter in question.
The parish finance council is to meet at least once per quarter.
Respect for the intention of the donor governs parish financial expenditures and the administration of Church property (canon 1284).
The members should make themselves available to parishioners so that all members of the parish may bring up matters of concern to members of the council.
The parish finance council members, individually or as a body, cannot act in any manner contrary to the will of the pastor. However, members have a right to express their opinions to the bishop in matters of grave concern.
Annual parish budget: The parish finance council plays an advisory and analytical role in the preparation of the annual balanced parish budget (canon 1284, §3). Under the authority of the pastor, the process should involve consultation with the parish pastoral council, staff, ministries, and associations.
School finances, budget and subsidy: If the parish has a school, its school board is to have its own school finance committee to prepare its annual budget and to review its income, expenditures, assets and liabilities. :The pastor must receive regular financial reports from the school, and he, along with the principal, must approve the annual budget. The pastor is to present regular financial reports and proposed budgets of the school to the parish finance council, so that they can more effectively advise him in his responsibility of financial oversight of the school. At least annually, prior to the approval of the following year’s budget, the principal and chair of the school finance committee shall meet with the parish finance council to review the financial situation and outlook of the school. The pastor is to consult the parish finance council in regard to any subsidy to the school from the general parish fund.
Quarterly reviews: The parish finance council should review the parish financial records and evaluate the financial status of the parish at least quarterly. This should include a review of the balance sheet and statement of revenues and expenditures. This review should compare projected to actual income and expenses. The purpose of this quarterly review is to keep the members of the council informed and also to give them an opportunity to advise the pastor regarding contingencies.
Annual financial report to the bishop: The members of the parish finance council are to review and sign the annual financial report submitted to the Diocesan Business Office in accordance with the forms issued by that office (canons 1284, §2, 8˚, 1287).
Annual report to the parishioners: The members of the parish finance council are to review the annual financial report presented to the parishioners (canon 1287, §2). Their names are to be included on the annual report. With permission or at the direction of the pastor, the parish finance council members may provide education to parishioners about the finances of the parish and about the relationship between the parish pastoral plan and the parish finances.
Safety inspection: The council is to review the safety inspection report submitted to the diocese.
Inventory and stable patrimony: Each year the council is to review the parish inventory of immovable property, objects of precious, artistic, cultural, or historic value, and other goods valued at $1,000 or more, along with their description and appraisal (canon 1283, 2-3˚˚). Proposals by the pastor for changes in what is designated as stable patrimony (e.g., church, rectory, restricted funds) are also to be reviewed by the council prior to submission to the bishop.
Stewardship and development: The parish finance council is to advise the pastor in regard to stewardship and development.
With regard to stewardship, the pastor may call upon the council to assist with the education of parishioners about the principles of stewardship as set forth by the U.S. Bishops in their document A Disciples :Response: A Pastoral Letter on Stewardship, 10th anniversary edition, October 2007 (www.usccbpublishing.org).
With regard to development, the pastor may call upon the council to assist in developing sufficient fundraising activities in accord with national and diocesan norms on fundraising.
If the pastor decides to establish a development and stewardship committee to fulfill these tasks, the parish finance council is to continue to be informed and be given opportunities to advise the pastor on their activities and progress.
Except in situations of urgent necessity, the pastor is to seek the advice of the parish finance council before conducting any transactions in excess of $10,000 (either as a single transaction or an aggregate of related transactions) that are not included in the approved budget.
For the pastor to conduct any transactions in excess of $20,000 (either as a single transaction or an aggregate of related transactions) that are not included in the approved budget, the permission of the bishop is also required (canons 1281, §§1-2, 1292). When requesting permission of the bishop, a copy of the parish finance council minutes are to be submitted to the bishop, noting the advice given to the pastor on the matter in question and the vote count of the council members.
Leadership: The pastor is the president of the parish finance council. If votes are taken, the pastor does not vote.
The pastor is to appoint a chairperson from among the members who coordinates and prepares for the meetings of the council. The chairperson should be chosen on the basis of his or her ability to facilitate a meeting, knowledge of diocesan norms, and leadership qualities.
The pastor is to appoint one of the members to serve as a recorder who keeps the minutes of the meetings and files the minutes in the parish archives.
Membership: The members of the parish finance council are to be appointed by the pastor.
At the discretion of the pastor, the council is to include between three and seven members (not including the pastor).
When the pastor appoints new members to the council, he is to list the names of all members of the council in the parish bulletin. The names of the council members are also to be included on the annual financial report delivered to the parishioners.
The members will serve for a term of three years, renewable. Terms should be staggered so that about one-third of the terms end each year. The pastor may appoint some members to one or two year terms as needed to stagger terms.
The members may freely resign from membership on the council at any time by informing the pastor.
The pastor may remove a member before the end of his or her term for a serious cause.
In the event that a pastor is transferred or a vacancy in office occurs, the members of the parish finance council continue in their terms of office. However, a new pastor may freely reconstitute the entire council if he wishes during his first year in office.
Bookkeeper/business manager: The parish bookkeeper/business manager is to attend meetings of the council to serve as a resource. However, he or she cannot be a member of the council and cannot vote.
Guests: Other parish staff members, parishioners, or consultants may attend meetings of the council at the invitation or consent of the pastor but cannot vote.
In all juridic affairs the pastor represents the parish according to the norm of law. He is to take care that the goods of the parish are administered according to the norm of canons1281-1288.
In each parish there is to be a finance council which is governed, in addition to universal law, by norms issued by the diocesan bishop and in which the Christian faithful, selected according to these same norms, are to assist the pastor in the administration of the goods of the parish, without prejudice to the prescript of canon 532.
§1. A parochial administrator is bound by the same duties and possesses the same rights as a pastor unless the diocesan bishop establishes otherwise.
§2. A parochial administrator is not permitted to do anything which prejudices the rights of the pastor or can harm parochial goods.
§3. After he has completed his function, a parochial administrator is to render an account to the pastor.
§1. It is for the ordinary to exercise careful vigilance over the administration of all the goods which belong to public juridic persons subject to him, without prejudice to legitimate titles which attribute more significant rights to him.
§2. With due regard for rights, legitimate customs, and circumstances, ordinaries are to take care of the ordering of the entire matter of the administration of ecclesiastical goods by issuing special instructions within the limits of universal and particular law.
§1. The administration of ecclesiastical goods pertains to the one who immediately governs the person to which the goods belong unless particular law, statutes, or legitimate custom determine otherwise and without prejudice to the right of the ordinary to intervene in case of negligence by an administrator.
Each juridic person is to have its own finance council or at least two counselors who, according to the norm of the statutes, are to assist the administrator in fulfilling his or her function.
§1. Without prejudice to the prescripts of the statutes, administrators invalidly place acts which exceed the limits and manner of ordinary administration unless they have first obtained a written faculty from the ordinary.
§2. The statutes are to define the acts which exceed the limit and manner of ordinary administration; if the statutes are silent in this regard, however, the diocesan bishop is competent to determine such acts for the persons subject to him, after having heard the finance council.
All clerics or lay persons who take part in the administration of ecclesiastical goods by a legitimate title are bound to fulfill their functions in the name of the Church according to the norm of law.
3° one copy of this inventory is to be preserved in the archive of the administration and another in the archive of the curia; any change which the patrimony happens to undergo is to be noted in each copy.
§1. All administrators are bound to fulfill their function with the diligence of a good householder.
9° organize correctly and protect in a suitable and proper archive the documents and records on which the property rights of the Church or the institute are based, and deposit authentic copies of them in the archive of the curia when it can be done conveniently.
§3. It is strongly recommended that administrators prepare budgets of incomes and expenditures each year; it is left to particular law, however, to require them and to determine more precisely the ways in which they are to be presented.
Within the limits of ordinary administration only, administrators are permitted to make donations for purposes of piety or Christian charity from movable goods which do not belong to the stable patrimony.
2° are to pay a just and decent wage to employees so that they are able to provide fittingly for their own needs and those of their dependents.
§1. Both clerical and lay administrators of any ecclesiastical goods whatever which have not been legitimately exempted from the power of governance of the diocesan bishop are bound by their office to present an annual report to the local ordinary who is to present it for examination by the finance council; any contrary custom is reprobated.
§2. According to norms to be determined by particular law, administrators are to render an account to the faithful concerning the goods offered by the faithful to the Church.
§1. Without prejudice to the prescript of canon 638, §3 [regarding religious institutes], when the value of the goods whose alienation is proposed falls within the minimum and maximum amounts to be defined by the conference of bishops for its own region, the competent authority is determined by the statutes of juridic persons if they are not subject to the diocesan bishop; otherwise, the competent authority is the diocesan bishop with the consent of the [Diocesan] Finance Council, the College of Consultors, and those concerned. The diocesan bishop himself also needs their consent to alienate the goods of the diocese.

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