The Invalid or Illegal Administration of Church Property (Can. 1376 §1, 2°)

Abstract

The delict formalized by the new canon 1376 §1,2 is only on the surface clearly identifiable in legal terms. Actually, it hides a certain confusion between two very precise technical concepts: administration and representation. Nor is the distinction between invalid administration and invalid acts of administration clear. It is also unclear whether the imputability of the invalid or illicit act should apply to the one who decides the act (administrator) or the one who performs it (agent) or the one who was supposed to authorize it. It seems that this is not a technical (legal) norm but a principled (political) one.