According to church law and the theology, each parish and diocese has its own unique set of rights and responsibilities, including the obligation to administer church property. The separate incorporation of parishes is the civil law structure that most accurately reflects our ecclesiastical law and theology. Creating non-profit parish corporations is the simplest and most effective way of ensuring that the rights of parishes regarding church property are respected not only in church law, but also in civil law.

 

 

At the present time, under the laws of the State of Michigan, the Archdiocese of Detroit exists as a "corporation sole." This model is several centuries old and developed out of various historical contexts. This structure civilly recognizes church property as held by the bishop as a form of trust, for the benefit of the Church. In recent years, there has been a growing concern that this civil legal structure does not fully reflect the theological and canonical vision of the Church.

 

 

Many dioceses around the country have separately incorporated their parishes for many years. In fact, as far back as 1911, the Holy See stated that dioceses in the United States should pursue parish incorporation. Since that time, many dioceses have adopted this legal structure as a normal part of parish and diocesan life.

 

 

The idea has been under consideration for many years. Most recently, during the Together in Faith pastoral planning process, several priests and members of the laity requested that the archdiocese consider separate incorporation of our parishes. In some instances, civil courts in other states have directed dioceses to incorporate their parishes to reinforce in civil law that parish assets belong to the parish, not the diocese. In the Detroit Archdiocese, we have no pending civil or canonical court cases that would require us to take this action. Our current "clean slate" in this regard makes this an ideal time to take this step.

 

 

Through Baptism, all the faithful – clergy and laity – are called to exercise the mission which God has entrusted to the Church to fulfill in the world. We are stewards of all that has been entrusted to us. Parish incorporation allows for direct involvement of the laity and a proper ordering of the rights and responsibilities of parishes and the diocese. By exercising proper stewardship and acknowledging the unique rights and responsibilities of all in our local church, we hope to better able to give witness to Christ and advance the Kingdom of God.

 

 

There should be no substantial change in the normal operation and administration of any parish. The Pastor will continue to administer the parish as previously, consulting with the parish pastoral council as currently required. The parish will continue to have a parish pastoral council as currently required. The parish will continue to have a parish pastoral council, stewardship or finance council, and so on. The parish will remain in communion with and accountable to the Archbishop. The parish will still need to file an annual budget and financial report with the Archdiocese. Permission of the bishop will still be needed when administration of parish goods is an act of major importance, exceeding what is considered ordinary administration. The fact of civil incorporation will not change the basic pattern of parish and diocesan life.

 

 

Incorporation in Michigan is a simple process. Articles of incorporation are recorded with the State of Michigan. Corporations also adopt bylaws regulating governance of the corporation. The articles of incorporation and bylaws will be drafted by archdiocesan legal counsel, and will be the same for all parishes. The initial articles of incorporation will be filed by the Archdiocese.

 

The plan is to create a Board of Directors consisting of four persons: the Vicar General/Moderator of the Archdiocesan Curia, the Chancellor of the Archdiocese, the Pastor and a parish lay representative (either the chairperson of the parish pastoral council or finance council). The Pastor will be the president of the corporation, with the same powers and duties that he has currently. The real and personal property of the parish will be transferred by the Archbishop (who presently holds title to such property in trust) to the parish corporation. The Archbishop will have certain reserved powers over matters identical to our current practice and in accord with canon law (e.g. approval of sale or purchase of real estate, leases, etc.)

 

 

Following incorporation, the parish corporation directors will be required to have an annual meeting and to file a simple annual report with the State of Michigan. The corporation board will meet once a year, for the purpose of reviewing the parish's activities, and taking any other necessary corporate action. It will not take the lace of parish pastoral council or commission meetings. The Office of the Chancellor of the Archdiocese of Detroit will monitor each parish to make sure it conducts the annual meeting, maintains minutes or the meeting, and files the annual report. Except for these annual meetings, and filing the annual report, there should be no difference in the operation of the parish.

 

 

The Michigan Attorney General has the legal authority and obligation to oversee non-profit corporations. If there is an allegation that the business affairs of a corporation are not being managed properly, it is possible that the Attorney General could investigate and, if warranted, take action. To the extent permitted by Michigan law, members of the board of directors will be indemnified from personal liability.

 

 

Incorporation will not require parishes to obtain IRS approval of the parish's 501(c) 3 status. Such non-profit status will be granted already by virtue of the parish listing in the Official Catholic (Kenedy) Directory. Incorporation will not affect any employee health or benefit programs, participation of the parish in the loan deposit program, insurance or any other services provided by the Michigan Catholic Conference or the Archdiocese of Detroit.

 

 

Under church law, a parish school belongs to the parish. There are no plans to incorporate parish schools separately from the parish. At the present time, there are also no plans to separately incorporate regional schools.

 

 

If a parish is clustered with one or more other parishes, each parish will be separately incorporated. If several parishes have merged together to become one parish, then that single merged parish will be incorporated.

 

 

Given the logistics involved in coordinating meetings for about three hundred parishes in the Archdiocese of Detroit, the Chancellor will schedule the annual meetings and many of these meetings will likely be held by telephone

 

 

The board will review some of the major areas concerning the temporal affairs of the parish. The board is not intended to replace the main consultative groups required presently for parishes, such as the parish pastoral council and the finance council/stewardship commission. Therefore, the meetings should be relatively brief. A standard agenda will be sent out in advance and will likely include the following:

 

 

It is expected that the parish will draft the meeting minutes, based on a template that will be provided by the Archdiocese. The minutes are not filed with the State of Michigan, but the parish will be required to retain a copy of the minutes and forward a copy to the Chancellor's Office.

 

 

Incorporation will not alter or affect any of the support programs currently available to assist parishes. The Parish Empowerment Fund, School Outreach Fund, and other grant programs will not be affected. The parish will continue to have legal counsel and legal representation provided by the Archdiocese of Detroit, as under current practice. Incorporation will not affect the priest pension plan, the lay employee pension plan, current employee insurance programs and/or parish insurance coverage.

 

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