Franz Xaver von Baader

 Baal, Baalim

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 Ludwig Babenstuber

 Jacques Babinet

 St. Babylas

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 Jean Bagot

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 Adrien Baillet

 Pierre Bailloquet

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 Peter Augustine Baines

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 David Augustine Baker

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 Thomas Bakócz

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 Jacob Balde

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 Girolamo and Pietro Ballerini

 Henry Balme

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 Ven. Edward Bamber

 Archdiocese of Bamberg

 Banaias

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 Anselmo Banduri

 Domingo Bañez

 Antiphonary of Bangor

 Diocese of Bangor

 Bangor Abbey

 John and Michael Banim

 Diocese of Banjaluka

 Civil Aspect of Bankruptcy

 Moral Aspect of Bankruptcy

 Banns of Marriage

 John Bapst

 Baptism

 Baptismal Font

 Baptismal Vows

 Bl. Baptista Mantuanus

 Baptistery

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 Barac

 Jacob Baradæus

 Frederic Baraga

 Ven. Madeleine-Sophie Barat

 Nicolas Barat

 Alvaro Alonzo Barba

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 Giovanni Francesco Barbarigo

 Diocese of Barbastro

 Felix-Joseph Barbelin

 Barber Family

 Giovanni Barbieri

 Agostino Barbosa

 Ignacio Barbosa-Machado

 John Barbour

 Paulus Barbus

 Barca

 Diocese of Barcelona

 University of Barcelona

 Alonzo de Barcena

 John Barclay

 William Barclay

 Martin del Barco Centenera

 Martin de Barcos

 Henry Bard

 Bardesanes and Bardesanites

 Bar Hebræus

 Archdiocese of Bari

 Barjesus

 Moses Bar-Kepha

 Ven. Mark Barkworth

 Barlaam and Josaphat

 Gabriel Barletta

 Abbey of Barlings

 Ven. Edward Ambrose Barlow

 William Rudesind Barlow

 Epistle of Barnabas

 St. Barnabas

 Barnabas of Terni

 Barnabites

 Federigo Baroccio

 Barocco Style

 Bonaventura Baron

 Vincent Baron

 Ven. Cesare Baronius

 Diocese of Barquisimeto

 Sebastião Barradas

 Louis-Mathias, Count de Barral

 Joachim Barrande

 Jacinto Barrasa

 Antoine-Lefebvre, Sieur de la Barre

 Balthasar Barreira

 Lopez de Barrientos

 João de Barros

 John Barrow

 Ven. William Barrow

 Augustin Barruel

 John Barry (1)

 John Barry (2)

 Patrick Barry

 Paul de Barry

 Johann Caspar Barthel

 Jean-Jacques Barthélemy

 Francesco della Rossa Bartholi

 Bartholomaeus Anglicus

 Bartholomew

 St. Bartholomew

 Ven. Bartholomew of Braga

 Bartholomew of Braganca

 Bartholomew of Brescia

 Bartholomew of Edessa

 Bartholomew of Lucca

 Bartholomew of Pisa

 Bartholomew of San Concordio

 Bartholomites

 Daniello Bartoli

 Giulio Bartolocci

 Fra Bartolommeo

 Francesco Bartolozzi

 Elizabeth Barton

 Baruch

 Liturgy of Saint Basil

 Rule of Saint Basil

 Basilians

 Basilica (stoa basilike)

 Basilides (1)

 Basilides (2)

 Basilinopolis

 Basilissa

 Basil of Amasea

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 St. Basil the Great

 Ecclesiastical Use of Basin

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 Diocese of Basle-Lugano

 Bas-relief

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 Joshua Bassett

 Matthew of Bassi

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 Prefecture Apostolic of Basutoland

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 Marco Battaglini

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 Giovanni Giuda Giona Battista

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 Fray Juan Bautista

 Kingdom of Bavaria

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 Adèle Bayer

 Francisco Bayeu y Subias

 Diocese of Bayeux

 James Roosevelt Bayley

 Joseph Bayma

 Diocese of Bayonne

 Guido de Baysio

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 Use of Beads at Prayers

 Beard

 Aubrey Beardsley

 Beatific Vision

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 Mount of Beatitudes

 Eight Beatitudes

 David Beaton

 James Beaton (1)

 James Beaton (2)

 Beatrix

 Lady Margaret Beaufort

 Beaulieu Abbey

 Beaufort, Henry

 Renaud de Beaune

 Jean-Nicolas Beauregard

 Pierre Gustave Toutant Beauregard

 Diocese of Beauvais

 Gilles-François-de Beauvais

 Jean-Baptiste-Charles-Marie de Beauvais

 Roch-Amboise-Auguste Bébian

 Abbey of Bec

 Martin Becan

 John Beccus

 Bl. John Beche

 Georg Philipp Ludolf von Beckedorff

 Thomas Andrew Becker

 Pierre-Jean Beckx

 Antoine-César Becquerel

 Pierre Bédard

 Bede

 Ven. Bede

 Gunning S. Bedford

 Henry Bedford

 Frances Bedingfeld

 Sir Henry Bedingfeld

 Cajetan Bedini

 Bedlam

 Ian Theodor Beelen

 Beelphegor

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 Ven. George Beesley

 Francesco Antonio Begnudelli-Basso

 Beguines and Beghards

 Albert von Behaim

 Martin Behaim

 Beirut

 Diocese of Beja

 John Belasyse

 Ven. Thomas Belchiam

 Archdiocese of Belem do Pará

 Belfry

 Belgium

 Belgrade and Smederevo

 Giacopo Belgrado

 Belial

 Belief

 Albert (Jean) Belin

 Ven. Arthur Bell

 James Bell

 Jerome Bellamy

 John Bellarini

 Ven. Robert Francis Romulus Bellarmine

 Edward Bellasis

 Aloysius Bellecius

 John Bellenden

 Diocese of Belleville

 Diocese of Belley

 Sir Richard Bellings

 Bellini

 Jean-Baptiste de Belloy

 Bells

 Diocese of Belluno-Feltre

 François Vachon de Belmont

 Ven. Thomas Belson

 Henri François Xavier de Belsunce de Castelmoron

 Giambattista Belzoni

 Pietro Bembo

 Prefecture Apostolic of Benadir

 Laurent Bénard

 Fray Alonzo Benavides

 Benda

 Pope Benedict I

 Pope St. Benedict II

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 Jean Benedicti

 St. Benedict Joseph Labre

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 Benedictus Polonus

 Benefice

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 Jeremiah Benettis

 Archdiocese of Benevento (Beneventana)

 Jöns Oxenstjerna Bengtsson

 Anatole de Bengy

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 Franz Georg Benkert

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 Benno II

 Michel Benoît

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 William Bentney

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 Girolamo Benzoni

 St. Berach

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 Antoine Henri de Bérault-Bercastel

 St. Bercharius

 Pierre Bercheure

 Bl. Berchtold

 Berengarius of Tours

 Pierre Bérenger

 Berenice

 Diocese of Bergamo

 Nicolas-Sylvestre Bergier

 Charles Berington

 Joseph Berington

 Humphrey Berisford

 Berissa

 José Mariano Beristain y Martin de Souza

 Anton Berlage

 Pierre Berland

 Fray Tomás de Berlanga

 Berlin

 Hector Berlioz

 Agostino Bernal

 St. Bernard

 Alexis-Xyste Bernard

 Claude Bernard (1)

 Claude Bernard (2)

 Bernard Guidonis

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 Bernard of Pavia

 St. Bernard Tolomeo

 Bl. Bernardine of Feltre

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 Bernardines

 Berne

 Francesco Berni

 Etienne-Alexandre Bernier

 Domenico Bernini

 Giovanni Lorenzo Bernini

 Giuseppe Maria Bernini

 François-Joachim-Pierre de Bernis

 Berno (Abbot of Reichenau)

 Berno

 Bernold of Constance

 St. Bernward

 Beroea

 Berosus

 Beroth

 Pietro Berrettini

 Alonso Berruguete

 Isaac-Joseph Berruyer

 Pierre-Antoine Berryer

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 Bertha

 Guillaume-François Berthier

 Berthold

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 Giovanni Lorenzo Berti

 St. Bertin

 Diocese of Bertinoro

 Ludovico Bertonio

 Pierre Bertrand

 St. Bertulf

 Pierre de Bérulle

 Martin de Bervanger

 Archdiocese of Besançon (Vesontio)

 Jerome Lamy Besange

 Theodore Beschefer

 Costanzo Giuseppe Beschi

 Beseleel

 Jérôme Besoigne

 Christopher Besoldus

 Johannes Bessarion

 Johann Franz Bessel

 Henry Digby Beste

 Bestiaries

 Fray Domingo Betanzos

 Fray Pedro de Betanzos

 Juan de Betanzos

 Bethany

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 Betharan

 Bethdagon

 Bethel

 Bethlehem (1)

 Bethlehem (2)

 Bethlehem (as used in architecture)

 Bethlehemites

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 Bethsan

 Bethulia

 Betrothal

 Prefecture Apostolic of Bettiah

 Betting

 Count Auguste-Arthur Beugnot

 St. Beuno

 Beverley Minster

 Lawrence Beyerlinck

 Giovanni Antonio Bianchi

 Francesco Bianchini

 Giuseppe Bianchini

 Charles Bianconi

 Pierre Biard

 Bibbiena

 St. Bibiana

 The Bible

 Bible Societies

 Picture Bibles

 Biblia Pauperum

 Biblical Antiquities

 Biblical Commission

 Ven. Robert Bickerdike

 Alexander Bicknor

 James Bidermann

 Gabriel Biel

 Diocese of Biella

 Marcin Bielski

 Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne, Sieur de Bienville

 Bigamy (in Canon Law)

 Bigamy (in Civil Jurisprudence)

 Marguerin de la Bigne

 Eberhard Billick

 Charles-René Billuart

 Jacques de Billy

 Bilocation

 Bination

 Joseph Biner

 Etienne Binet

 Jacques-Philippe-Marie Binet

 Severin Binius

 Anton Joseph Binterim

 Biogenesis and Abiogenesis

 Biology

 Flavio Biondo

 Jean-Baptiste Biot

 Birds (In Symbolism)

 Biretta

 St. Birinus (Berin)

 Fabian Birkowski

 Diocese of Birmingham

 Heinrich Birnbaum

 Defect of Birth

 Birtha

 Diocese of Bisarchio

 Bishop

 William Bishop

 Bisomus

 Robert Blackburne

 Black Fast

 Blackfoot Indians

 Adam Blackwood

 St. Blaise

 Anthony Blanc

 Jean-Baptiste Blanchard

 François Norbert Blanchet

 St. Blandina

 St. Blane

 Blasphemy

 Matthew Blastares

 St. Blathmac

 Nicephorus Blemmida

 Blenkinsop

 The Blessed

 Congregation of the Blessed Sacrament

 Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament

 Blessing

 Apostolic Blessing

 Diocese of Blois

 Peter Blomevenna

 Blood Indians

 François-Louis Blosius

 Heinrich Blyssen

 Francis Blyth

 Nicolas Bobadilla

 Abbey and Diocese of Bobbio

 Boccaccino

 Giovanni Boccaccio

 Placidus Böcken

 Edward Bocking

 Ven. John Bodey

 Jean Bodin

 Bodone

 Hector Boece

 Petrus Boeri

 Anicius Manlius Severinus Boethius

 Bogomili

 Archdiocese of Santa Fé de Bogotá

 Bohemia

 Bohemian Brethren

 Bohemians of the United States

 Diocese of Boiano

 Matteo Maria Boiardo

 Nicolas Boileau-Despréaux

 Diocese of Boise

 Jean de Dieu-Raymond de Cucé de Boisgelin

 St. Boisil

 Diocese of Bois-le-Duc

 Osbern Bokenham

 Conrad von Bolanden

 Giovanni Vincenzo Bolgeni

 Bolivia

 Bollandists

 Johann Bollig

 Archdiocese of Bologna

 Giovanni da Bologna

 University of Bologna

 Jérôme-Hermès Bolsec

 Edmund Bolton

 Bernhard Bolzano

 Archdiocese of Bombay

 Cornelius Richard Anton van Bommel

 Giovanni Bona

 Bonagratia of Bergamo

 François de Bonal

 Raymond Bonal

 Louis-Gabriel-Ambroise, Vicomte de Bonald

 Louis-Jacques-Maurice de Bonald

 Bona Mors Confraternity

 Charles-Lucien-Jules-Laurent Bonaparte

 St. Bonaventure

 Balthasar Boncompagni

 Juan Pablo Bonet

 Nicholas Bonet

 Jacques Bonfrère

 St. Boniface

 Pope St. Boniface I

 Pope Boniface II

 Pope Boniface III

 Pope St. Boniface IV

 Pope Boniface V

 Pope Boniface VI

 Boniface VII (Antipope)

 Pope Boniface VIII

 Pope Boniface IX

 Boniface Association

 Boniface of Savoy

 Boni Homines

 Bonizo of Sutri

 University of Bonn

 Ven. Jean Louis Bonnard

 Henri-Marie-Gaston Boisnormand de Bonnechose

 Abbey of Bonne-Espérance

 Edmund Bonner

 Augustin Bonnetty

 Bonosus

 Institute of Bon Secours (de Paris)

 Alessandro Bonvicino

 Book of Common Prayer

 Foxe's Book of Martyrs

 Archdiocese of Bordeaux (Burdigala)

 University of Bordeaux

 Cavaliere Paris Bordone

 Caspar Henry Borgess

 Stefano Borgia

 Ambrogio Borgognone

 Diocese of Borgo San-Donnino

 Diocese of Borgo San-Sepolcro

 Pierre-Rose-Ursule-Dumoulin Borie

 Prefectures Apostolic of Borneo

 Francisco Nicolás Borras

 Andrea Borromeo

 Federico Borromeo

 Society of St. Charles Borromeo

 Francesco Borromini

 Christopher Borrus

 Diocese of Bosa

 Peter van der Bosch

 Ven. Giovanni Melchior Bosco

 Ruggiero Giuseppe Boscovich

 Antonio Bosio

 Bosnia and Herzegovina

 Boso

 Boso (Breakspear)

 Jacques Le Bossu

 Jacques-Bénigne Bossuet

 Ven. John Boste

 Archdiocese of Boston

 Bostra

 Bothrys

 Sandro Botticelli

 St. Botulph

 Lorenzo Boturini Benaducci

 Pierre Boucher

 Louis-Victor-Emile Bougaud

 Guillaume-Hyacinthe Bougeant

 Dominique Bouhours

 Jacques Bouillart

 Emmanuel Théodore de la Tour d'Auvergne, Cardinal de Bouillon

 Marie Dominique Bouix

 Henri, Count of Boulainvilliers

 André de Boulanger

 César-Egasse du Boulay

 Etienne-Antoine Boulogne

 Martin Bouquet

 Thomas Bouquillon

 Jean-Jacques Bourassé

 Thomas Bourchier

 Louis Bourdaloue

 Hélie de Bourdeilles

 Jean Bourdon

 François Bourgade

 Archdiocese of Bourges (Bituricæ)

 Ignace Bourget

 François Bourgoing

 Gilbert Bourne

 Charles de Bouvens

 Joachim Bouvet

 Jean-Baptiste Bouvier

 Diocese of Bova

 Diocese of Bovino

 Sir George Bowyer

 Boy-Bishop

 John Boyce

 Boyle Abbey

 Thomas Bracken

 Henry de Bracton

 Denis Mary Bradley

 Edward Bradshaigh

 Henry Bradshaw

 William Maziere Brady

 Archdiocese of Braga

 Diocese of Bragança-Miranda

 Brahminism

 Louis Braille

 Nicolas de Bralion

 Donato Bramante

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 Francesco Brancati

 Francesco Lorenzo Brancati di Lauria

 Branch Sunday

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 Edouard Branly

 Sebastian Brant

 Pierre de Bourdeille, Seigneur de Brantôme

 Memorial Brasses

 Charles Etienne, Abbé Brasseur de Bourbourg

 Johann Alexander Brassicanus

 St. Braulio

 Placidus Braun

 Francisco Bravo

 Brazil

 Liturgical Use of Bread

 Striking of the Breast

 Jean de Brébeuf

 Diocese of Breda

 Jean Bréhal

 Brehon Laws

 Bremen

 St. Brenach

 Michael John Brenan

 St. Brendan

 Klemens Maria Brentano

 Diocese of Brescia

 Prince-Bishopric of Breslau

 Francesco Giuseppe Bressani

 Brethren of the Lord

 Raymond Breton

 Breviary

 Aberdeen Breviary

 Heinrich Brewer

 Joseph Olivier Briand

 Bribery

 Briçonnet

 Jacques Bridaine

 The Bridge-Building Brotherhood

 St. Bridget of Sweden

 Thomas Edward Bridgett

 John Bridgewater

 Bridgewater Treatises

 St. Brieuc

 St. Brigid of Ireland

 Brigittines

 John Brignon

 Paulus Bril

 Peter Michael Brillmacher

 Ven. Edmund Brindholm

 Diocese of Brindisi

 Stephen Brinkley

 Jacques-Charles de Brisacier

 Jean de Brisacier

 Archdiocese of Brisbane

 Johann Nepomucene Brischar

 Ancient Diocese of Bristol

 Richard Bristow

 British Columbia

 Francis Britius

 Thomas Lewis Brittain

 Ven. John Britton

 Diocese of Brixen

 St. Brogan

 Auguste-Théodore-Paul de Broglie

 Jacques-Victor-Albert, Duc de Broglie

 Maurice-Jean de Broglie

 Jean-Allarmet de Brogny

 John Bromyard

 John Baptist Brondel

 Anthony Brookby

 James Brookes

 Diocese of Brooklyn

 Jean-Baptiste de la Brosse

 Brothers Hospitallers of St. John of God

 Richard Broughton

 Christoph Brouwer

 William Brown

 Charles Farrar Browne

 Volume 4

 Volume 3/Contributors

 Orestes Augustus Brownson

 Vicariate Apostolic of Brownsville

 Heinrich Brück

 Joachim Bruel

 David-Augustin de Brueys

 Louis-Frédéric Brugère

 Bruges

 Pierre Brugière

 John Brugman

 Constantino Brumidi

 Pierre Brumoy

 Filippo Brunellesco

 Ferdinand Brunetière

 Ugolino Brunforte

 Leonardo Bruni

 Diocese of Brünn

 Francis de Sales Brunner

 Sebastian Brunner

 St. Bruno, Archbishop of Cologne

 St. Bruno (1)

 St. Bruno (2)

 Giordano Bruno

 St. Bruno of Querfurt

 Bruno the Saxon

 Brunswick (Braunschweig)

 Anton Brus

 Brusa

 Brussels

 Simon William Gabriel Bruté de Rémur

 Jacques Bruyas

 John Delavau Bryant

 Bubastis

 Gabriel Bucelin

 Martin Bucer

 Victor de Buck

 Buckfast Abbey

 Sir Patrick Alphonsus Buckley

 Buddhism

 Guillaume Budé

 Diocese of Budweis

 Buenos Aires

 Diocese of Buffalo

 Claude Buffier

 Louis Buglio

 Bernardo Buil

 Ecclesiastical Buildings

 Archdiocese of Bukarest

 Bulgaria

 Bulla Aurea

 Ven. Thomas Bullaker

 Bullarium

 Spanish Bull-Fight

 Angélique Bullion

 Bulls and Briefs

 Sir Richard Bulstrode

 Joannes Bunderius

 Michelangelo Buonarroti

 Burchard of Basle

 Burchard of Worms

 St. Burchard of Würzburg

 Hans Burckmair

 Edward Ambrose Burgis

 Francisco Burgoa

 Archdiocese of Burgos

 Burgundy

 Christian Burial

 Jean Buridan

 Jean Lévesque de Burigny

 Franz Burkard

 Edmund Burke

 Thomas Burke

 Thomas Nicholas Burke

 Walter Burleigh

 Diocese of Burlington

 Burma

 Peter Hardeman Burnett

 James Burns

 Burse

 Abbey of Bursfeld

 Abbey of Bury St. Edmund's

 Ven. César de Bus

 Pierre Busée

 Hermann Busembaum

 Busiris

 Buskins

 Franz Joseph, Ritter von Buss

 Carlos María Bustamante

 Thomas Stephen Buston

 John Patrick Crichton-Stuart, Third Marquess of Bute

 Jacques Buteux

 Alban Butler

 Charles Butler

 Mary Joseph Butler

 Buttress

 Ven. Christopher Buxton

 Byblos

 Bye-Altar

 Byllis

 William Byrd

 Andrew Byrne

 Richard Byrne

 William Byrne

 Byzantine Architecture

 Byzantine Art

 Byzantine Empire

 Byzantine Literature

Benefice


(Lat. Beneficium, a benefit)

Popularly the term benefice is often understood to denote either certain property destined for the support of ministers of religion, or a spiritual office or function, such as the care of souls, but in the strict sense it signifies a right, i. e. the right given permanently by the Church to a cleric to receive ecclesiastical revenues on account of the performance of some spiritual service. Four characteristics are essential to every benefice:


  • the right to revenue from church property, the beneficed cleric being the usufructuary and not the proprietor of the source of his support;
  • a twofold perpetuity, objective and subjective, inasmuch as the source of income must be permanently established and at the same time the appointment to the benefice must be for life, and not subject to revocation, save for the causes and in the cases specified by law;
  • a formal decree of ecclesiastical authority giving to certain funds or property the character or title of a benefice;
  • an annexed office or spiritual function of some kind, such as the care of souls, the exercise of jurisdiction, the celebration of Mass or the recitation of time Divine Office.

This last mentioned element is fundamental, since a benefice exists only for the sake of securing the performance of duties connected with the worship of God, and is based on the Scriptural teaching that they who serve the altar should live by the altar. In fact, as Innocent III declares, the sole purpose of the foundation of benefices was to enable the church to have at her command clerics who might devote themselves freely to works of religion.


HISTORY

The need which benefices are intended to meet was in the earlier centuries of the life of the Church satisfied in other ways. From the beginning, the clergy was supported by the liberality of the faithful, but originally all offerings were transmitted to the bishop, who took charge of their administration and distribution. Usually the mass of donations was divided into four portions, of which one went to the support of the bishop, another to the maintenance of the clergy, a third to the repair and construction of churches, and a fourth to the relief of the needy and afflicted. Under this system even those clerics who ministered in rural parishes were obliged to send the oblations received in their churches to the bishop, to swell the common fund and to be submitted to the ordinary rule of allotment. The inconvenience attending this method, especially because the offerings were frequently in kind, increased with the growth of the Church, particularly with the multiplication of country parishes. Moreover the Church came to possess considerable real property. Hence early in the sixth century we find in some places the practice of allowing some of the clergy to retain for themselves and for their churches the gifts which they had received or even the income from property which the Church had acquired. The latter form of grant, in connexion with lands or permanent endowments, was known as precaria, a name which indicates its unstable tenure; on the death of the possessor the source of his revenue reverted to the common fund of church property, and could not serve for the support of a cleric unless devoted anew to this purpose by a formal act of ecclesiastical authority. Though these precariœ were in the beginning contrary to the canons, circumstances justified their increasing employment, and they paved the way for the recognition of the modern benefice.

All that was needed to transform the precariœ into benefices, was to do away with the need of a new episcopal decree assigning the income from certain lands or other property to the support of a priest on the occurrence of a vacancy, and to recognize in the source of income a perpetual foundation for this specific purpose. When this was done and the incumbent was given permanency in office, the modern benefice came into being. It was of gradual growth, its beginning dating from the sixth century and its universal adoption being delayed until the eleventh century. Since the usufruct allowed to clerics resembled the grants of land which sovereigns were accustomed to make to subjects who had distinguished themselves by military or political service, and which the Church was at times compelled to concede to powerful lay lords in order to secure necessary protection in troubled times, it was natural that the term benefice, which had been applied to these grants, should be employed to denote the similar practice in regard to ecclesiastics. Wherever the common law of the Church holds sway the establishment of benefices is the rule. In more than one country a system developed by centuries of piety has fallen before decrees of secularization, but if the usurping government makes a pretence of compensation by stipends to the clergy, such stipends are regarded by the Church as beneficiary revenue, and those who receive them retain the status of beneficed clerics. In the United States benefices are almost unknown. A solitary example in New Orleans figured as a notable exception in the decree of the Second Plenary Council. A few parochial benefices are found in the province of San Francisco, and there is good ground for the opinion which sees in permanent rectorships all the requisites of a benefice; but these instances, with the episcopates, are in marked contrast with the general organization of the Church in the United States. In England, also, benefices are the exception, but in Canada they are more common (Gignac, Compend. Jur. Eccl., Quebec, 1906). The beneficiary system plays an important part in the discipline of the evangelical churches on the continent of Europe, and of the State church of England. In 1900, out of 22,800 clergymen at work in the Anglican Church, 13,872 were beneficed. (For benefices or "livings" in the Anglican Church see Phillimore, "Ecclesiastical Law"; Idem, "Book of Church Law", London, 1899, 227; ibid. the Benefices Act of 1898. For the Evangelical Churches see Hinschius, "Kirchenrecht", Berlin, 1869 sq.; Friedberg, "Lehrbuch des Kirchenrechts", 4th ed., 1895; Real Encyk. f. Prot. Theol. und Kirche, 3d ed., 1897, II, 596.)


DIVISION

Benefices are divided into simple and double; major and minor; elective, presentative, and collative; residential and non-residential; perpetual and manual; secular and regular. Simple benefices are those which involve only the duty of reciting the Divine Office or of celebrating Mass. Double benefices imply the care of souls or jurisdiction in the external forum or administrative functions, and, if they be episcopal or supra-episcopal in rank, are styled major benefices. A benefice is elective when the appointing authority may collate only after some electoral body has named the future incumbent; presentative when such nomination belongs to a patron; collative when the bishop or other superior appoints independently of any election or presentation. The distinction between residential and non-residential benefices is based upon the fact that in some cases the canons or articles of foundation impose the obligation of residence in the locality of the benefice while in other cases no such obligation is annexed. Manual benefices are not benefices in the strict sense, since their distinctive note is that appointments to them are revocable at the will of the collating authority. A legal presumption exists that all benefices are secular, but those which exist in churches or houses of religious orders or which by custom or by the will of the founder have been appropriated to religious are known as regular benefices. This last distinction has at times a special importance because of the rule requiring that secular benefices be conferred only on secular clerics, regular benefices only on regulars.


CREATION

Benefices can be created only by ecclesiastical authority, since the right to revenue which they suppose is always necessarily connected with some spiritual function, and is therefore reckoned among the jura spiritualia controlled by the Church. The competent authority may be the pope or a bishop or one possessing quasi-episcopal authority, it being always understood that the pope has exclusive control of all major benefices. A benefice must be erected in a church or at an altar, under the title of some saint or mystery, and with the annexed obligation of rendering some spiritual service. Since the idea of compensation is always implied, a sufficient endowment must in every case be guaranteed, the amount varying with the character of the benefice, the locality of the foundation, and the nature of the services which are to be rendered. In some countries, as in Austria, the consent of the civil authorities is a necessary preliminary to the creation of a benefice.


MODIFICATION

A benefice once erected is understood to be perpetual, but the law must and does provide for circumstances which may require an alteration of the status of a benefice by union or division, or even its entire suppression or extinction. Sometimes, owing to changed conditions, especially to a diminution of revenue, it becomes necessary to unite two or more benefices. This union may be effected in two ways, either so that an entirely new individual entity is brought into being, or so that the original titles remain, but are conferred on one cleric instead of several. In this latter case a distinction has to be made between a union in which both benefices retain their legal autonomy and a union in which one benefice is made legally dependent on the other. The pope alone can unite major benefices; minor benefices are subject in this respect to episcopal authority, with very few exceptions. A bishop is not allowed to proceed to the union of benefices unless such action be justified by reasons of necessity or of advantage, and unless a hearing be first granted to all interested persons. The patron, if there be one, and the cathedral chapter are the only parties whose consent, as distinguished from mere opinion, is required. The division of benefices, which is most frequently verified in connexion with parishes, is authorized when the incumbent is unable on account of increasing obligations to meet the requirements of his office, even with the help of such auxiliaries as the law allows. The formalities are generally the same as for a union. The term "dismembration" is frequently employed as a synonym for division, but strictly speaking it denotes an act by which a part of the goods or revenues of one benefice is given perpetually to another benefice or to some other ecclesiastical entity. In this case no new benefice is set up, and the act in question is in reality simply an alienation of church property, and is therefore governed by the rules applicable to alienation. Dismembration is also used at times to signify the separation of a certain territory with its inhabitants from one parish and its incorporation in another, which may be effected for sufficient reason. The extinction of benefices occurs when both the benefice and the church to which it is attached are utterly destroyed or cease completely to have any connexion with Catholic worship, as happened in the past when certain countries were overrun by infidels or heretics, and in more recent times on the occasion of acts of usurpation by the civil power. Suppression differs from extinction in that it simply terminates the existence of a benefice, leaving intact the church and any other benefices which may be connected with it. Suppression involves a diminution of religious service, and is consequently regarded as odious in law. Nevertheless a bishop may for good reasons and with the consent of his chapter proceed to suppression, and at times such action is rendered necessary by a considerable depreciation in the value of the beneficiary property or by the departure of the population to whose spiritual needs the benefice was intended to minister. Suppression is not infrequently requested by patrons. In such cases the practice is not to consent to absolute suppression, at least of the religious service depending on the benefice, but simply to the exoneration of the patron and his renunciation of the jus patronatus.


COLLATION

The collation or granting of benefices may be ordinary or extraordinary, free or necessary. The distinction between ordinary and extraordinary collation is based upon the fact that while, ordinarily major benefices are disposed of by the pope and minor benefices by bishops, it may occasionally happen that this rule suffers an exception in so far as it relates to bishops, either because of a special provision of the law in favour of the pope or of some other authority, or because, on the failure of the bishop to act, the right to appoint devolves on his superior. These exceptions are known as extraordinary collations. From the eleventh century, extraordinary collations by the pope became more and more common, usually taking the form of mandata de providendo, literœ expectativœ, and reservations. The mandata de providendo were intended to give to the cleric named therein a right to a benefice already vacant in the diocese of the bishop to whom the mandate was directed. Literœ expectativœ were similar papal interventions in regard to diocesan benefices, but affected benefices not yet vacant, the recipient of the letter being given a claim on a benefice as soon as it should be at the disposal of the bishop. These two methods of extraordinary collation were not productive of happy results; they proved to be prejudicial to episcopal authority; they were taken advantage of by unworthy aspirants for ecclesiastical offices; and at times they were fraudulently obtained and offered for sale. Hence their reprobation by the Council of Trent (Sess. XXIV, cap. xix De ref). This animadversion of Trent was not, it is needless to say, a limitation of any papal prerogative; its sole purpose being to forestall possible abuses on time part of petitioners for favours from the Holy See. Reservations are still in operation, and consist in this, that the pope reserves to himself in specified cases the collation of certain diocesan benefices. After serving for centuries as a cause of much controversy, they were finally regulated by laws defining accurately the instances in which collation was to be reserved to the pope. One of the most important reservations which may serve as an example is contained in the ninth rule of the Apostolic Chancery (see CHANCERY, APOSTOLIC), which provides that those diocesan benefices which fall vacant during eight months of the year are to be at the disposal of the pope, but that bishops who observe the law of residence may freely dispose of all benefices vacated during the six alternate months beginning with February. To-day reservations are in effect to some extent throughout the Church; for example, they affect the first dignities in chapters in the Province of Quebec and canonries in England; but Italy is the only country in which they are in full operation. Apart from cases provided for in reservations, the pope rarely, if ever, exercises his right of extraordinary collation. A collation, whether made by the pope or by a bishop, is said to be free when it is not conditioned by any act of an elector or of a patron; necessary when it follows election or nomination by competent persons or presentation by patrons. In many countries, concordats have secured to the representatives of civil authority an important part in appointments to benefices. Thus in Bavaria the king nominates to all archiepiscopal and episcopal sees; and a similar right has been granted to the Emperor of Austria and to the King of Portugal; in Hanover the chapter, before proceeding to the election of a bishop, must allow the Government to cancel the names of those candidates whom it judges unacceptable. Secular intervention in the collation of minor benefices varies from the royal nomination of the King of Portugal to the governmental exequatur required by Italian law. The interests of religion are safeguarded by the canonical requirement that in every case the candidate must be confirmed by ecclesiastical authority before he can lawfully begin his incumbency. (For abuses in the collation of benefices, see PATRONAGE, COMMENDATORY ABBOTS, INVESTITURES.)


CONDITION OF COLLATION

In order that benefices may the more effectually fulfill the purposes for which they were instituted, various laws have been enacted governing the act of collation. Whether the collation be free or necessary it must always be gratuitous, to avoid simony; free, that is without coaction; unconditional; public, so that it may be readily proved; and granted within six months from the date of vacancy. Moreover no benefice can be conferred before it is vacant, nor can seculars receive the benefices of regulars, nor regulars those which are secular in character. Plurality of benefices also is forbidden. This last regulation was introduced very early in the history of benefices to assure the faithful execution of the trust attached to ecclesiastical foundations, as well as to guard against the evils which follow luxury; but in the course of time its effectiveness was considerably diminished by a distinction drawn between compatible and incompatible benefices. It was claimed that a benefice which does not require residence is perfectly compatible with one which does, and also that several simple benefices might very properly be held at the same time. This view held sway down to the time of the Council of Trent, which ordained that the possession of more than one benefice is lawful only when the first benefice obtained does not suffice for the support of the incumbent, and that in no case should both be residential. The Holy See alone can dispense from the observance of this law. The act of collation is further conditioned by canons requiring certain qualities in the appointee:

(a) The clerical state and celibacy

Tonsure is necessary for all benefices, and higher orders must be received by aspirants to important charges; thus cardinals are obliged to receive within the year the order corresponding to their rank in the sacred college; archbishops and bishops must have been subdeacons for at least six months; parish priests must receive the priesthood within a year.

(b) Age

Before the Council of Trent a simple benefice could lawfully be conferred on a cleric as early as his seventh year, but since that council the recipient of a simple benefice must be in his fourteenth year, and for double benefices the age of twenty-four years completed is always required. A greater maturity is demanded for certain offices, e. g. thirty years completed for the episcopate, and forty years for the post of canon penitentiary.

(c) Character

The appointee must be of legitimate birth and of good reputation, and free from censure and irregularity.

(d) Relative worthiness

In the case of a choice between several candidates for a bishopric or for a parish, the collator must appoint the most worthy, i. e. the one who possesses in the highest degree the qualities necessary for a successful discharge of the duties connected with the benefice in question. The same rule applies to prelacies with quasiepiscopal jurisdiction, to the canon theologian and to the canon penitentiary. As to other benefices authorities differ, the preferable opinion maintaining that in all cases the most worthy is to be chosen.

(e) Science

According to a law of Trent (Sess. VII, c. xiii, De ref.) no one can be collated to a benefice unless his fitness has been demonstrated in an examination conducted by the ordinary. In the case of parochial benefices, this examination must take the form of a concursus. (See CONCURSUS.) For some appointments the possession of a degree in theology or in canon law is demanded, as evidence of requisite learning; a bishop must be a doctor or a licentiate in canon law or in theology, or have the public testimony of a university as to his fitness to teach others; an archdeacon also must be a doctor or a licentiate in canon law or in theology; and similar qualifications are demanded for other offices. The Holy See, is, at the present time, insisting that the law concerning degrees be faithfully observed.

(f) Extraordinary requirements

These may be imposed by the articles of foundation or by secular law. Founders of benefices are given a great deal of liberty in attaching conditions to the act of collation, provided that these conditions be approved by ecclesiastical authority. In consequence, it happens at times that only members of a certain family or citizens of some town or city are eligible, or even, in some few instances, persons of noble birth. More onerous, and not always acceptable to the church, is the interference of civil authorities in the matter of collation. In many places only a person declared acceptable to the Government, or a citizen, or a native, or one who swears fidelity to the Government at the time of appointment, or who receives the royal exequatur, can hope to be collated. In Portugal and in Bavaria, the permission of the Government is necessary for ordination, and without this permission, which is given after an examination by secular authorities, a cleric is incapacitated for benefices in these two kingdoms. The Bavarian law also contains the curious provision that no subject is to enter the German College at Rome so long as it is conducted by the Fathers of the Society of Jesus, or by any similar order, and that all who contravene this ordinance are to be considered as personœ non gratœ to the Government and excluded from all benefices and posts at its disposal.


OBLIGATIONS

All beneficed clerics are bound to make a profession of faith within two months from the date of taking possession, to perform faithfully the duties pertaining to their charge, to recite the canonical hours, and if the benefice held be double, to reside in the place in which their benefice is located. Violation of the law of residence is punished by loss of revenues during the time of absence, and if persisted in, by privation.


VACANCY

The tenure of the incumbent of a benefice is perpetual, in the sense that it can be terminated only by death or for causes specified in the law. It is provided in the law that in the event of certain acts vacancy shall occur ipso facto; as when the incumbent marries or attempts marriage, when he takes solemn vows in a religious order, when he violates the canon forbidding plurality, when he fails to receive within the prescribed time the necessary ordination, when he obtains episcopal consecration, when he is guilty of any crime to which penalty of deprivation is expressly attached. In other cases deprivation follows a judicial process, instituted in virtue of laws authorizing the bishop to punish certain offences in this manner. Moreover a cleric has the right to resign his benefice provided the resignation be offered freely and for just reasons, and be accepted by a competent superior, and he may also, with certain conditions, exchange benefices with another incumbent.


REVENUES

The holder of a benefice is not the owner of the foundation from which he derives his support; he occupies in reference to it the position of a tutor or guardian who must defend its interests. His chief duty is to maintain it as a perpetual means of support for ministers of religion. Its fruits or revenues, however, belong to him, but with the obligation of devoting to pious causes, and especially to the relief of the poor, all that is not needed for his own support. Formerly, this superfluous revenue could not be disposed of by will, but a universal custom has long since authorized such testamentary disposal, provided it be made in favour of pious causes or of the poor. In fact, in most places on account of the difficulty of distinguishing a cleric's patrimonial property from his beneficiary revenue, the right is recognized to dispose freely by will of all property. (See JUS SPOLII.)

DUARENE, De Sacris Ministeriis et Beneficiis (Paris, 1564); REBUFFI, Praxis Beneficiorum (Lyons, 1580); GARZIAS, De Beneficiis (Cologne, 1614); CORRADUS, De Praxi Beneficiariâ (Naples, 1656); LOTTERIUS, De Re Beneficiariâ (Lyons, 1659); LEURENIUS, Forum Beneficiale (Cologne, 1674); GOHARD, Traité des Bénéfices (Paris, 1765); SGUANIN, Tractatus Beneficiarius (Rome, 1751); THOMASSINUS, Vetus et Nova Discipline circa Ecclesiœ Beneficia et Beneficiarios (Venice, 1766), the classic historical work on Benefices; GAGLIARDI, Tractatus de Beneficiis (Naples, 1842); ZITELLI, Apparatus Juris Eccl. (Rome, 1907); GROSS, Das Recht an der Pfründe (Graz, 1887); GALANTE, Il Beneficio Ecclesiastico (Milan, 1895); VERING, Lehrbuch des kath. prot. und oriental. Kirchenrechts, etc. (3d ed., Freiburg, 1893), 452 sqq.; ROTH, Geschichte des Beneficialwesens (Erlangen, 1850); STUTZ, Geschichte des Beneficialwesens bis Alexander III (Berlin, 1895); TAUNTON, The Law of the Church (London, 1906).

JOHN T. CREAGH