Dowry

DOWRY. - In its original and most common meaning it is the aggregate of goods that a woman brings to her husband to support the burdens of marriage. By way of analogical derivation, the term is also used in canon law to indicate the patrimonial mass of an ecclesiastical benefice and of a pious foundation, and in a special way the dowry of religious women.

As regards the matrimonial dowry, canon law, in accordance with cann. 1016 and 1529, adopts the norms established in the matter by the civil legislator for the respective nations, provided that nothing in them is contrary to divine law and to the law of the Church. In the Italian Civil Code the dowry regime is regulated by arts. 177-209.

The beneficiary dowry is that mass of economically useful goods which, in union with the sacred office and the right to make use of the respective revenues, constitutes the ecclesiastical benefice (can. 1409; v. BENEFICIO ECCLESIASTICO). In the pious foundation the dowry is represented by a mass of goods to which is annexed an obligation of worship or of charity to be maintained out of the respective revenues (can. 1544 § 1; v. FONDAZIONE PIA).

The dowry of religious women is that sum of money or that mass of income-producing goods which the aspiring religious woman is bound to bring at her entry into religion, for the purpose of contributing to the expenses of her maintenance (can. 547). It is an institution characteristic of the law of religious women, in close analogy with the matrimonial dowry.

The institution of the dowry appears to be unknown to the law of the Decretals, in which the burden of maintaining the moniales is always borne by the monastery (c. un. § 1, in VI, 3, 16; c. 2, C. I, q. 2): indeed, the exaction of any contribution whatsoever on the occasion of admission to the Order was held to be the crime of simony under ecclesiastical law (cc. 19, 25, 30, 40, X, 5, 3). It seems, however, that some exception was made in favor of poor monasteries as early as the time of St. Thomas (Sum. Theol., 2ᵃ-ᵃᵛ, q. 100, a. 3, ad 4). The Council of Trent was the first to admit an indemnity for the expenses of food and clothing during the novitiate (sess. XXV, c. 16). Subsequently it came to be tolerated in various institutes to exact a modest contribution in view of the straitened conditions of the individual communities. It seems that St. Charles Borromeo was the first bishop who, with the approval of the Holy See, introduced into the particular law of his diocese the obligatory exaction of the dowry.

This is prescribed for the moniales only; for sisters of simple vows it is not imposed by common law, but it may be by particular law. As regards the amount of the dowry and the nature of the goods constituting it, one must abide by the statutory norms of the individual institutes or, in the absence of these, by legitimate custom (can. 547).

The constitution of the dowry must be made before the novitiate, through the direct payment of the relevant capital, or by means of a contractual obligation that guarantees its fulfillment, also before the civil forum.

For the total or partial remission of the dowry, an indult of the Holy See is required for religions of pontifical right, and the license of the local Ordinary for those of diocesan right (can. 547).

The administration of the dowry is entrusted to the superior of the monastery, if this is sui iuris, and otherwise to the provincial or general superior, under the vigilance of the local Ordinary, who on the occasion of the sacred visitation, or even more often, should he deem it opportune, shall exact a faithful account of it (cann. 550, 535 § 2). The first act of administration must be the investment of the capital in safe, lawful and income-producing securities, which is to be done by the superior, after hearing the opinion of her council, immediately after the first profession of the religious woman (can. 549).

For the time of the novitiate, the dowry, unless there is a clause to the contrary, remains on deposit under the tacit condition of future profession. With the emission of this, it passes into the ownership of the Religion, bound however by the resolutory condition of the religious woman's permanence in the Institute (the usufruct and the administration belong to the Religion unconditionally); during this time it can in no way be alienated or otherwise incorporated into the goods of the House or of the Religion; nor may the religious woman dispose of it even by an act of last will. Only with the death of the holder does the dowry remain irrevocably acquired by the monastery or the institute (cann. 549, 548).

To the religious woman who in any way returns to the world, the dowry must be restored in full, less the fruits already accrued. It likewise follows, from the day of the transfer, the religious woman who passes to another monastery of the same Order. If, on the other hand, she passes, with prior apostolic indult, to another Order, during the new novitiate only the fruits shall be credited to her, while the capital must be transferred to her in full in the new institute as soon as the new profession has been emitted (cann. 551, 570 § 1).

Also for the erection of a church, canon law requires an adequate dowry for the maintenance of the sacred building, for the needs of worship and the support of the ministers (can. 1162 § 2). The same is required for the erection of a new religious house (can. 476).

Zaccaria da San Mauro