### POSSESSION, TAKING OF
It is one of the subsequent acts by which canonical provision is effected.
I. GENERAL CONCEPT
To prevent harmful uncertainties in the fulfillment of duties and in the exercise of rights inherent in an ecclesiastical office, benefice, or dignity, canon law generally provides an investiture rite, called *institutio corporalis* or *missio in possessionem* (can. 1443 § 2), upon which, in many cases, the very legal efficacy of subsequent acts or at least the legitimacy of the same depends, according to the particular norms in force in various places. The taking of possession corresponds to this investiture act on the part of the incumbent. The principle that no one in the Church may, on his own authority, occupy an office, dignity, or benefice, even if he has the title thereto, is universally accepted in doctrine and is implicitly sanctioned in can. 2394, which imposes serious penalties against arbitrary occupiers. However, with regard to benefices, it is also explicitly stated in can. 1443, which further specifies that only the local Ordinary may deliver the taking of possession, unless it concerns benefices customarily conferred by the Pope in consistory, for which the *missio in possessionem* is reserved to the Holy See, according to the special norms established by the CIC. For simple offices or non-beneficial dignities, general law does not prescribe a true and proper taking of possession, so that a vicar general, a diocesan chancellor, or a parish consultor, from the moment of their appointment, have full enjoyment of their office; but if an installation rite is not prescribed, the principle that the exercise and commencement of new functions is subject to the competent authority is not thereby diminished.For the taking of possession of common benefices, there is no form determined by general law, but can. 1444 requires Ordinaries to observe the rite that particular norms or customs prescribe in various places; the same canon, however, authorizes a dispensation for a just cause. In such a case, the bishop issues an express dispensation that, for all effects, substitutes the taking of possession according to the various cases contemplated in cann. 81, 82, 291. When this act is carried out in the ordinary manner, the bishop, if not already fixed by law, establishes the term within which it must occur; illegitimate failure to observe this term renders the benefice ipso facto vacant and the candidate’s title null (can. 1444). The incumbent of the benefice has the faculty, if absent or impeded, to delegate a priest with a special mandate to take possession (can. 1445), but may not delegate the task of making the profession of faith, which is often prescribed as a preliminary act to taking possession (can. 1406), since such profession is always reserved to the person of the incumbent (can. 1407).
A particular form is established for the taking of possession of bishops, apostolic administrators, coadjutor and auxiliary bishops. For the first, the taking of possession of the diocese occurs with the presentation of the apostolic letters of appointment to the Chapter of the cathedral church and recorded in a special minute by the chapter secretary or the curia chancellor (can. 334 § 3); the useful time for this act is fixed at four months from the appointment (can. 333). For apostolic administrators, on the other hand, and for coadjutor bishops with the right of succession or assigned to the see (can. 313, 353 § 2), the presentation of the letters must be made to the bishop of the diocese if he is present and in the territory, and also to the cathedral Chapter. This suffices, at least under current legislation, because in case of vacancy, coadjutors with the right of succession immediately acquire full and ordinary pastoral governance of the diocese, and apostolic administrators as well as coadjutors assigned to the see continue in their functions without further formalities (can. 355 § 1). If it concerns simple auxiliaries, i.e., bishops assigned to a person, the taking of possession is completed by the presentation of the letters to the local bishop. Special note should be made of the taking of possession of apostolic vicars and prefects, who present the letter of appointment solely to the pro-vicar or pro-prefect who, by virtue of can. 309, temporarily succeed deceased or impeded incumbents and who are designated from the very beginning of ordinary governance.
The effects of the taking of possession of a benefice are set forth in can. 1472 and following. Rights and duties find their origin in this act, and the very legal efficacy of the powers themselves arises therefrom. Thus, every jurisdictional act issued by the bishop before this rite is devoid of all effect (can. 334 § 2); from this rite arise the pastoral duties sanctioned in cann. 336, 338, 339, etc., as well as episcopal privileges that are not acquired by simple appointment.
The Church safeguards this principle with severe sanctions; it indeed strikes with immediate inhabilitation and other penalties the arbitrary occupier (can. 2394), just as it punishes electors who, before superior ratification if required by law, install the elected. The usurper must in every case relinquish the benefice and may no longer aspire thereto unless the inhabilitation is dispensed. Good faith, however, may remedy the illegitimacy of the taking of possession if it has lasted peacefully for three years and there has been no simony (can. 1446). The time may be interrupted by the intervention of third parties, and in such a case prescription is impossible; the taking of possession must be judicially annulled and replaced by a new provision according to the ordinary norm of canonical investiture (can. 1447).
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### THE TAKING OF POSSESSION BY THE PONTIFS
In itself, the Roman Pontiff has no need to take possession, since, upon accepting election, he immediately becomes Bishop of Rome and successor of St. Peter in the universal governance of the Church. Nevertheless, a solemn ceremony soon became customary, by which the Popes took possession of the Basilica and the Lateran Palace.
Following the coronation (v.) of the new Pope, a grand procession went from the Vatican to the Lateran, which traversed the *via Papae*; that is, to use modern topographical terminology, after crossing the Borghi, it passed before Castel S. Angelo, then took via dei Banchi Nuovi, del Governo Vecchio, passed before the Palazzi Massimo and Della Valle, the church of the Gesù, arrived at the Capitol splendidly adorned, where the Senator of Rome offered the new Pope the homage of the Urbe; it crossed the Roman Forum, skirted the Colosseum, and finally arrived at the Lateran. Sometimes, however, the taking of possession was postponed for some time, as was first done by Julius II. The author of the *Ordo Romanus XIII* (1271-76) left a complete description of the papal procession. It was organized by the *prior diaconorum cum ferula*. At the head was a horse of the Pope covered with a cloth; followed by a subdeacon with the cross, twelve standard-bearers with as many red banners, the group of lay dignitaries, the singers, the ecclesiastical dignitaries, the bishops, archbishops, and finally the group of cardinals. Surrounded by subdeacons with the baldachin came the Pope last of all. All participants in the procession, including the Pope, were on horseback. E. S. Piccolomini (later Pius II) recounts that in the procession for the coronation of Nicholas V, the Most Holy Sacrament was carried, surrounded by many lights. The custom of carrying the Most Holy Eucharist was repeated in subsequent taking of possession ceremonies, as is found in the taking of possession of Leo X. All the previous sumptuous processions were surpassed by that of the taking of possession of Leo X, prepared by the Rome of the 16th century and described by the Florentine physician Giovanni Penni.
Along the routes traversed, the Romans spread carpets, hangings, statues and erected triumphal arches. The Ordo XII recalls that the procession took place *cum honore arcum*. The Renaissance raised arches designed by the most skilled artists, adorned with statues reproducing, in the spirit of that time, Christian and pagan subjects. Near churches along the route, the clergy prepared altars and censed the pope as he passed by. The same Ordo XII states that *clerici omnes romani occurrunt eidem induti undecunque possunt cum turibolo*. Ordo XIII and XIV recall the custom of throwing money to the people, especially in narrow streets, to disperse the crowd. This practice often led to disputes and sometimes even deaths, as happened when, upon the pope’s arrival at the Lateran, the Romans seized his horse and baldachin. Near Monte Giordano, the head of the rabbis used to present the new pope with the Code of the Law, requesting respect and protection for his people. The pope replied that he revered Holy Scripture but not rabbinic interpretation. Later, this custom was performed within the walls of Castel Sant’Angelo to spare the Jews from maltreatment by the Romans; eventually, it was abolished altogether. Upon the pope’s arrival at the Basilica of the Lateran, he was greeted by the cardinal archpriest and the canons: *ibi ante porticum stat prior Laterani et canonici cum eorum comitiva, induti solemniter* (Ordo XIII). The cardinal archpriest, on behalf of the entire Chapter, addressed words of homage to the new pope and then presented the crucifix for him to kiss.
In the same portico, the pope was made to sit or recline on a throne while the verse from the canticle of Anna was sung: *suscitat de pulvere egenum et de stercore elevat pauperem*. For this reason, such a seat was called the *stercoraria* and is first mentioned in the Ordo XII of Cencio Camerario (late 12th century). Rising from the throne, the pope took from his chamberlain three handfuls of coins and threw them among the people, saying: *argentum et aurum non est mihi ad delectationem, quod autem habeo hoc tibi do*. Immediately afterward, the pope, accompanied by the cardinals, his court, and the Lateran Chapter, entered the church and seated himself on a throne prepared in the apse, admitting all the canons to kiss his foot. From the 15th century onward, documents mention a blessing given by the pope to the people at this moment in the Basilica, though this is not recorded in the Ordines. Once this ceremony concluded, the solemn procession to the Lateran Palace began. The pope entered from the Basilica and was received by a group of nobles and dignitaries who accompanied him through the palace to the oratory of St. Sylvester. Later, as Burcardo attests, he was conducted to the hall of the Council, adorned with a central tribune where the cardinals renewed the *laudes* already sung at St. Peter’s. The oratory of St. Sylvester was located on the first floor of the Lateran Palace. Within the oratory were two porphyry seats. The newly elected pope first sat on the one to the right; the prior of the basilica of St. Lawrence in Palatio (today the oratory of the Scala Santa) presented him with the *ferula*, a kind of staff, *signum regiminis et correctionis*, and simultaneously handed him the keys to the Basilica and the Lateran Palace. The pope then rose and went to sit on the other seat placed to the left. Shortly afterward, the same prior girded the pope with a red silk belt, from which hung a pouch containing twelve seals of precious stones and a small piece of musk. Finally, the pope proceeded to St. Lawrence in Palatio, where he paused briefly in prayer. Upon returning to the oratory of St. Sylvester, he distributed the *presbyterium*, that is, a gift to the clergy in coins or gold and silver medals. The entire ceremony of the procession concluded with a banquet, to which, before the 16th century, the pope, cardinals, and bishops attended in sacred vestments. On other occasions, the pope preferred to dine alone; in such cases, the tables were set in the halls of the canons, as happened during the taking of possession of Innocent VIII.
The solemn cavalcade remained in use until Pius VI. Pius IX took possession of the Lateran on November 8, 1846, in a carriage, preceded and followed by a cortege of dignitaries on horseback. The taking of possession was not repeated after the occupation of Rome in 1870. After the Concordat, Pius XI, traveling to the Lateran in private form, took official possession in a rather simple manner (1929). Pius XII, on the feast of the Ascension in 1939, took possession of the Lateran in solemn form, though with greatly reduced formalities, and concluded the ceremony with a blessing to the Roman people from the loggia of the main façade of the Basilica.
III. TAKING POSSESSION BY CARDINALS
After the creation of cardinals, the pope assigns to each a titular church. For cardinal-bishops, the taking of possession is carried out in the same manner as for bishops. Cardinal-priests and cardinal-deacons have in their titular churches *iura pontificalia*, but they cannot exercise jurisdiction over the faithful.The taking of possession may have originated from the solemn reception that the clergy and the parishioners of the respective titular church accorded, from the 4th century onward, to the newly ordained priest on the Saturday of the Ember Days of September. After ordination, the clergy and people of the titular church triumphantly conducted the priest to his seat. The new incumbent advanced on a white horse, covered with a white cloth. During the procession, the cardinals performed the *laudes* of the pope’s consecration. The feast concluded with a solemn banquet. In the Middle Ages, it being a common opinion that titular churches were to be regarded as the dioceses of cardinal-priests and cardinal-deacons, with their own clergy and people (*V. TITOLI*), the taking of possession by the latter followed the same pattern as that of bishops, with the necessary variations. The same practice continued during the Renaissance and afterward (cf. Sixtus V, const. *Religiosa Sanctorum*, 1587). At present, the taking of possession of a cardinal’s titular church occurs either in private or in solemn form. In the private form, the rector of the titular church, in surplice, receives the cardinal at the door of the church, presenting him with the aspergillum for the sprinkling of those present. This is followed by a visit to the Blessed Sacrament and the patron saint of the church. Upon entering the sacristy, the bull of appointment is read, and the clergy present render an act of obedience. After an exchange of speeches between the rector and the cardinal, the act of taking possession is signed. In the solemn form, the cardinal, accompanied by several prelates, proceeds in solemn fashion to his titular church, where he is received by the rector in cope and by the entire clergy. At the entrance, he kisses the crucifix presented by the rector, then sprinkles the bystanders and is censed three times by the rector. A small procession is formed, leading the cardinal to the altar of the Blessed Sacrament for a brief prayer. The cardinal then proceeds to the throne and there listens to the reading of the bull of appointment. This is followed by the act of homage and obedience by the clergy, after which the rector delivers an address, to which the cardinal replies. The ceremony concludes with the singing of the *Te Deum* and the blessing imparted by the new cardinal titular. In the sacristy or another room, the act of taking possession is signed.