A SHORT BIOGRAPHY OF CANON 1287.2

"The best summary articulation of the tenets of Vatican II"

It was groundbreaking.  On June 17, 1967, the Pontifical Commission for the Revision of the Code of Canon Law decided to tackle Canons 1518-28 of the 1917 Code.  A team called a coetus studiorum started work on Canon 1525 §2 February 1968.  Early on a proposal shifted the direction of travel.  It came from Monsignor Frederick McManus of the Catholic University of America (who’d presided at the first English Mass in the USA in 1964.)

“The emergence of Canon 1287 §2 as a universal legislation in the Church is the best summary articulation of the tenets of Vatican II Council –i.e., the concept of the Church as communion; the call to witness to poverty and attitude of detachment from material goods especially among the clergy in order to highlight the mission of the Church which is religious in nature; and the active participation of the lay faithful in the Church affairs particularly in temporal matters which is usually their competence. Consequently, transparency comes as an indispensable principle in living out the thrust of the Vatican II Council for the world today.”

In The Obligation of Transparency in the Administration of Temporal Goods of the Church in Canon 1287. Fr Robert Young’s 2016 Doctoral Thesis, Faculty of Canon Law, Pontifical University of the Holy Cross, Rome

CANON 1287 § 2  De bonis, quae a fidelibus Ecclesiae offeruntur, administratores rationes fidelibus reddant iuxta normas iure particulari statuendas.

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.

At slightly more than one word a year, Canon 1287.2 was the outcome of long, thoughtful, diligent discernment. It involved a team of theologians and worldwide consultation between 1967 and its formal acceptance in 1983.  (A definitive narrative is part of the Fr Robert Young’s Thesis.)

It was groundbreaking.  On June 17, 1967, the Pontifical Commission for the Revision of the Code of Canon Law decided to tackle Canons 1518-28 of the 1917 Code.  A team called a coetus studiorum started work on Canon 1525 §2 February 1968.  Early on a proposal shifted the direction of travel.  It came from Monsignor Frederick McManus of the Catholic University of America (who’d presided at the first English Mass in the USA in 1964.)  He suggested that reports concerning financial matters should be made not only to the bishop but to members of the parish.  This became crafted into a precursor to Canon 1287 §2.  As part of the wider Schema Canonum Libri V “De Jure Patrimoniali Ecclesiae, in 1977 an agreed version was sent out for consideration to episcopal conferences, offices of the Roman Curia, the Unions of Superiors General, and various Catholic universities and faculties.  The extensive feedback suggested a high level of interest. Again there were debates and iterations, debating every word, and in Latin.  But eventually Canon 1287.2 was settled.

There were some loose ends. The New Commentary on the Code of Canon Law by the Canon Law Society of America in 2000 (ed Beal, Coriden, and Green) noted that unlike Canon 1287.1, “It is not just the manner of reporting but the very rendering of a report at all that is left up to particular law.” So C1287.2 does not speak of an annual report, though “During the revision process, unsuccessful efforts were made to expand the scope of this report....”

 A further key step awaited – translating the Latin into local languages. The official translation sometimes seems like English but not as we know it – the unfamiliar jargon jarring for anyone not in the know*.  Here’s a sort of translation of the translation.  

“Norms to be determined by particular law” are essentially the local interpretation of Canon 1287.2 within and for a diocese – anywhere in the world.

“Administrators” means parish priests (though some parishes use this term for what others call Secretary). 

“The faithful” are essentially – but not exclusively – parishioners. In the 1983 Code, the term ‘Parishioner’ appears only once.  The more catholic term ‘Faithful’ occurs 274 times – nearly always as a collective noun. “Parish” is seen 257 times, and “Parishes” 22.

The word “Account” appears 46 times in the Code, and “Accounts” twice – in all cases meaning narrative or report, and not the colloquial English financial term “The Accounts”.

“Goods offered” are essential financial, and today may be offered by other than the faithful regularly attending Mass at a given parish - think joint bank accounts, long-or short-stay visitors, government funding by Gift Aid or grants.

“To the Church” may cover giving for second collections (eg Peter’s Pence), diocesanwide appeals, and special (eg Lenten) projects. 

*For example, Canon 1284.1 has the Latin Paterfamilias – with its historic resonance of heavy authority – as the model for diligence by parish priests.  For the English, the translators chose “householder” – outside the experience of most.  In the UK, in 2020 there were 19.4 million families. Of the 19.4 million families, 2.9 were lone parent.  The average household size was 2.4.  The average Catholic parish priest’s is slightly more than 1, as presumably recorded in the 2021 Census. (ICYMI Some are married.)