Decree of Promulgation

United States Conference of Catholic Bishops
United States of America

On November 13, 2002,  the Latin Church members of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops approved complementary legislation for the implementation of canon 1292 §1 of the Code of Canon Law for the Latin Church dioceses of the United States.  The action was granted recognitio by the Congregation for Bishops in accord with article 82 of the Apostolic Constitution Pastor Bonus and issued by Decree N. 296/84 of the Congregation for Bishops signed by His Eminence Giovanni Battista Cardinal Re, Prefect, and His Excellency Most Reverend Franciscus Monterisi, Secretary, and dated June 3, 2003.  On March 31, 2004, a subsequent Decree with the same Protocol Number was issued which granted recognitio to the below indicated provisions for a period of two years.  By a decree dated January 31, 2006, again with the same aforementioned Protocol Number, the same Congregation decreed the extension of the previous recognitio for an additional two year period, a term extended for an additional biennium by a decree of March 31, 2008.

Wherefore, and in accord with the prescripts of canon 1292 §1, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops decrees that:

  1. the maximum limit for alienation and any transaction which, according to the norm of law, can worsen the patrimonial condition is $10,000,000 for Dioceses with Catholic populations of half a million persons or more.  For other Dioceses the maximum limit is $5,000,000 (cf. can. 1295). 

  2. the minimum limit for alienation and any transaction which, according to the norm of law, can worsen the patrimonial condition is $1,000,000 for Dioceses with Catholic populations of half a million persons or more.  For other Dioceses the minimum limit is $500,000.

  3. for the alienation of property of other public juridic persons subject to the Diocesan Bishop, the maximum limit is $5,000,000 and the minimum limit is $25,000 or 5% of the prior year’s ordinary annual income, whichever is higher.

  4. both the maximum and minimum amounts within the region are linked to the consumer price index as determined annually by the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics, and reported by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops to the appropriate offices of the Holy See and to the Conference members.
As President of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, I hereby decree that this decree takes effect immediately for all the Latin Church dioceses in the United States.

Given at the offices of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops in the city of Washington, the District of Columbia, on June 20, 2008.


Francis Cardinal George, O.M.I.
Archbishop of Chicago
President, USCCB

Reverend Monsignor David J. Malloy
General Secretary, USCCB


JUNE 2008

The USCCB’s complementary legislation implementing canon 1292 §1 of the Code of Canon Law states that the maximum and minimum sums for the alienation of ecclesiastical goods are to be “linked to the consumer price index as determined annually by the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics, and reported by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops to the appropriate offices of the Holy See and to the Conference members.”  Accordingly, the adjusted maximum and minimum sums now in effect are as follows:

Maximum: $11,397,000 for populations of 500,000 or more, $5,699,000 for all others (raised from $10,948,000 and $5,475,000 respectively),

Minimum: $1,140,000 for populations of 500,000 or more, $570,000 for all others (raised from $1,095,000 and $547,500 respectively),

For other juridical persons subject to the Diocesan Bishop the new maximum sum for alienation is $5,699,000 (raised from $5,475,000) and the minimum is $28,495 from $27,373) or 5% of the prior year’s ordinary annual income, whichever is greater.