Episcopal Mensa

EPISCOPAL MENSA. - It is the complex of ecclesiastical goods destined for the support of the bishop (archbishops, primates, prelates nullius) and his household. The history of the formation of the so-called m. v. is connected with the evolution of the ecclesiastical benefice (v.). What is set forth here is a subject only of current canon law.

The bishop has the right to receive the revenues of the m. v. from the day on which he takes possession of the diocese (can. 349 § 2, 1°), a right that is inherent in his office. The vicar capitular, too, for the period of a vacant see, has a right to a congruous remuneration that must be drawn from the m. v. (can. 441, 1°). In the dismemberments of benefices it is forbidden to unite a parochial benefice to the m. v. (can. 1423 § 2) in order to avoid useless conflicts with the Ordinary. The m. v. is not exempt from the seminary tax that is devolved in favor of the seminaries (can. 1356 § 1). Regarding the administration of these goods, can. 1483 provides: 1) that the goods of the m. v. be diligently administered by the bishop (a prescription that recalls the obligation of can. 1476); 2) by its nature, this administration entails the burden of keeping the episcopal residence in good condition, except in the case where that falls to other persons or bodies, as, for example, to the municipal administration; 3) to avoid confusion of goods the bishop must draw up an accurate inventory in which are enumerated the utensils and movable goods that are in the episcopium and that belong to the m. v., and must see to it that the document is transmitted integrally and securely to his successor. Causes relating to the m. v., with regard to goods, are referred, with the consent of the bishop, to the diocesan tribunal, composed of the official and two pro-synodal judges, or to the superior judge (can. 1572 § 2), which for a suffragan is the metropolitan (can. 274, 8°); representation in court belongs to the bishop, who has the obligation to appoint a procurator for himself (can. 1655 § 4) and to request the assent or the opinion of the cathedral Chapter or of the board of administration in certain cases (can. 1663 § 1; 1532 §§ 2, 3). The Lateran Concordat (arts. 17 and 23) provides that in the case of a reduction of dioceses their economic resources are not to be diminished in the least, without any exception for state allowances. By art. 30 the obligation of conversion is excluded for ecclesiastical patrimonies and therefore also for the m. v.: finally the m. v. of the suburbanic dioceses are not subject to the intervention of the State, which is admitted provisionally for the goods of the other dioceses in acts exceeding simple administration.

Giuseppe Damizia