A Separate 501c3?

A 501c3 is tax code lingo for a non-profit organization. There are many organizations that are 501c3’s, including each parish but many other organizations like the Right to Life and other NGO’s like the World Wildlife Fund are all 501c3’s. This designation marks these organizations as tax exempt. Some people have asked if a separate 501c3 could be set up to pay for some things in the parish separately. Why do people want to do this? I noted two big reasons. There is a desire to protect one’s money and to ensure that the money given to a separate 501c3 does not get assessed by the archdiocese. Here are a few thoughts on why I think this proposition is a bad idea.

A parish is a juridic (legal) person and therefore also has the right to acquire, administrate, and alienate property for ecclesiastical purposes. Establishing a civil entity to sidestep the law would infringe upon the rights of the parish to administrate its own goods and subsequently upon the rights of the individual members of the faithful who make up the community of the parish. The law dictates that the pastor is responsible for overseeing the administration of the parish’s goods; this is both a responsibility of the pastor and a service to the people of God who are assured that one who has received Holy Orders and thus the munus regendi (the power of administration) is carrying out the administration (assisted by those of trusted counsel) of the community’s goods. The role of pastor is more than just a spiritual figurehead. Administration is a responsibility and integral part of the pastor’s office. A separate 501c3 takes away the responsibility of administration from the parish and pastor.  

If the people put all their eggs in the non-profit corporation basket, and the parish and pastor didn’t accept the funds offered the parish from the corporation, then the parish would likely more quickly proceed down a road to financial insolvency. A situation arises that could make a parish’s financial viability look questionable from the outside, meaning the parish looks to be less vital than it appears. Certainly, speeding such a process would not be the desired outcome for one’s parish. Plus, while a 501c3 can pay for bills separate from the parish, this would still be considered contributions to the parish and thus still be accessed by the archdiocese.

Whatever concerns there may be about the Archdiocese, they have implemented a number of controls and processes that help ensure that the generosity of the people of God is properly administered.  In addition, they provide numerous services to our parishes, such as training for employees and catechists, legal counsel, campus ministries, funding of the seminary, and support of seminarians which provides priests for service to our parishes, and many other forms of assistance.

The Church is the bride of Christ no matter where She is manifested. God pours out His blessings upon the good and bad alike. In a similar way, all that we have in our life is a gift from God and we should desire to give this gift back to Him in return. The gifts and treasure we have are not ours but held as stewards. The archbishop, the archdiocese, pastors, parishes are not perfect but they do strive to be the best stewards they can, and I think our archdiocese is among the best in the country at working to spread the Gospel, promote the truths of the Catholic Faith, prepare for the future, and offer assistance to all their parishes. At the end of the day, we have it pretty good in the Archdiocese of Cincinnati.

Thank you to Archbishop Schnurr who has been a faithful shepherd of the archdiocese. His prayer for vocations has seen the archdiocese of Cincinnati buck the trend of declining vocations. While we may not have as many being ordained as we did 60 years ago, we still are ordaining more priests that the vast majority of dioceses in the United States. The archbishop has been one willing to courageously look to the future in order to prepare our parishes to become missionary outposts throughout Western Ohio.

Peace in Christ,

Fr. Jarred Kohn

8/13/2023