Order of Church Matters

51) At all colonial churches there must be a church warden (starosta), chosen by the parishioners or appointed by the colonial authorities with the agreement of the priests.

At missions, however, where in the early period there will be only field churches, the having of a church warden is left to the discretion of the missionary.

52) At each church and mission, income-and-expenditure books are to be kept for recording church property, and maintained in proper order. The keeping of the books and the compiling of returns is the duty of the church warden under the close supervision of the clergy. But where there is no warden, this duty falls on the clergy themselves.

53) Where there is no church warden, the property of the church is the full responsibility of the clergy, who in the event of loss or negligence are subject to every form of accountability.

54) Without the knowledge and permission of the dean, no one may make significant expenditures of church capital.

55) At every church and mission there must be kept:

a) Register books, to be maintained with all diligence according to the form established by the diocesan authorities.

b) Confession registers of all Christians belonging to that parish. At missions, the registers are to indicate (if only approximately) how many are still unenlightened and how many are ready to receive baptism.

c) A search book for the contracting of marriages, in which marriages of Europeans with natives and of Creoles (that is, children born of a European and a native woman) are to be entered in the ordinary form. Marriages of native peoples, for the time being, may be entered only in the register books.

56) They are also to keep a special memorandum book for entering all reports and communications—which may be needed for various references and as evidence.

57) In order that the authorities may be able to see the progress and labors of each priest and missionary, and thereby to assess them, each of them is obliged to keep a journal, in which are recorded all actions pertaining to their duties, as well as whatever seems worthy of note concerning the life, customs, and other circumstances of the native peoples.

58) In those parishes where chapels are located in places distant from the church, the administration of them in all respects must be under the supervision of the priest of that parish, and their property is to be accounted under the church as a separate item.