An Inventory of Church Property is a process carried out when there is a new custodian of a church office; in the

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britain ...

this is known as a Terrier, from

Glebe terrier "Glebe terrier" is a term specific to the Church of England. It is a document, usually a written survey or inventory, which gives details of glebe, lands and property in the parish owned by the Church of England and held by a clergyman as part of t ...

Description

Within the Catholic Church, this was an issue for bishops and abbots in the Middle Ages as they were often of noble birth and so would often have both property and recognised heirs. Under the

Council of Trent The Council of Trent ( la, Concilium Tridentinum), held between 1545 and 1563 in Trento, Trent (or Trento), now in northern Italian Peninsula, Italy, was the 19th ecumenical council of the Catholic Church. Prompted by the Protestant Reformation ...

inventories, were required of substantial officeholders on an annual basis, and were not to be administered by the officeholders, in a similar way to modern

audit An audit is an "independent examination of financial information of any entity, whether profit oriented or not, irrespective of its size or legal form when such an examination is conducted with a view to express an opinion thereon.” Auditing ...

s of companies.

Canon Law Canon law (from grc, κανών, , a 'straight measuring rod, ruler') is a set of ordinances and regulations made by ecclesiastical authority (church leadership) for the government of a Christian organization or church and its members. It is th ...

before the Council of Trent made no clear mention of the need for church inventories, although bishops were ordered to separate carefully their own property from that of their church office so that the bishop's heirs could not seize the church's goods, or the Church lay claim to the Bishop's personal goods. The most important document relating to the inventories of church property is the

Motu Proprio In law, ''motu proprio'' (Latin for "on his own impulse") describes an official act taken without a formal request from another party. Some jurisdictions use the term ''sua sponte'' for the same concept. In Catholic canon law, it refers to a do ...

, “Provida”, by

Sixtus V Pope Sixtus V ( it, Sisto V; 13 December 1521 – 27 August 1590), born Felice Piergentile, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 24 April 1585 to his death in August 1590. As a youth, he joined the Franciscan order ...

in 1587. The original idea was to establish a general ecclesiastical record office at Rome to store the inventories of all the church property in Italy although this was abandoned as these inventories already existed in many Episcopal archives with bishops verifying the inventories when during their pastoral visits. However, Sixtus still commanded all other Bishops to create an inventory of the property of all the churches and ecclesiastical establishments within their dioceses. This was renewed by

Pope Benedict XIII Pope Benedict XIII ( la, Benedictus XIII; it, Benedetto XIII; 2 February 1649 – 21 February 1730), born Pietro Francesco Orsini and later called Vincenzo Maria Orsini, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 29 May ...

in 1725 and

Pius X Pope Pius X ( it, Pio X; born Giuseppe Melchiorre Sarto; 2 June 1835 – 20 August 1914) was head of the Catholic Church from 4 August 1903 to his death in August 1914. Pius X is known for vigorously opposing modernist interpretations of C ...

in 1904.Analecta Eccles., 1904 The expectation is that every administrator of church property on assuming office must draw up an exact inventory of property from his office with two copies sent, one to his archives and the other to the relevant bishop (in some countries a third copy must be sent to the civil authorities). When the term of office ends, the officeholder must hand over to his successor all articles entered in the inventory. This verification is done in a document which discharges the retiring official and places the responsibility on his successor. During the period of management the administrator must keep his inventory up to date, that is to say, he must make a record, with due legal formalities, of any changes to the inventory. There is an important role for Bishops visits where a bishop is often expected to examine the inventory. The rise of financial reporting has meant that in many cases this is done through the production and often external auditing of church accounts. So although the bishop still does have a role within the Catholic church as the guardian of church assets, the role of episcopal visitations and inventories when the officeholder changes is not as important although can still be a symbolic part of an officeholders' induction.

References

{{reflist Catholic Church organisation Canon law Asset lists