Jus novum (c. 1140-1563) Jus novissimum (c. 1563-1918) Jus codicis (1918-present) Other Sacraments Sacramentals Sacred places Sacred times Supra-diocesan/eparchal structures Particular churches Juridic persons Philosophy, theology, and fundamental theory of Catholic canon law Clerics Office Juridic and physical persons Associations of the faithful Pars dynamica (trial procedure) Canonization Election of the Roman Pontiff Academic degrees Journals and Professional Societies Faculties of canon law Canonists Institute of consecrated life Society of apostolic life The right of patronage (in Latin jus patronatus or ius patronatus) in Roman Catholic canon law is a set of rights and obligations of someone, known as the patron in connection with a gift of land (benefice).
The right of patronage is designated in papal letters as "ius spirituali annexum" and is therefore subject to ecclesiastical legislation and jurisdiction as well as civil laws relating to the ownership of property.
As Frangipane asserts in his thesis:[7] "The giuspatronato, or jus patronato, or simply patronage, had its origins in the Church's gratitude toward its benefactors during the high Middle Ages.
The main distinction of the later form of patronage, which serves to distinguish it from past expressions, is that of presentation as opposed to institution allowing multiple candidates to be nominated and considered for the office in question."
Thus the patronages in possession of secularized bishoprics, monasteries, and ecclesiastical foundations are regarded as spiritual.
A lay patronage (laicale) is established when an ecclesiastical office is endowed by anyone out of private means.
In modern concordats Rome has repeatedly granted the right of patronage to Protestant princes.
In the case of juridical persons the presentation may be made according to statute, or by turns, or by decision of the majority.
For one who through no fault of his own has been hindered in making a presentation, the time does not expire at the end of the period mentioned.
The honorary rights (iura honorifica) of the patron are: precedence in procession, a sitting in the church, prayers and intercessions, ecclesiastical mentions, burial in the church, ecclesiastical mourning, inscriptions, special incensing, the asperges (holy water), ashes, palms and the Pax.
The utilitarian rights (iura utilia) of the patron consist essentially in that insofar as he is a descendant of the founder he is entitled to a maintenance allowance the superfluous funds of the church connected with the patronage if he has no other means to support himself.
[13] To draw any other material advantages from the church connected with the patronage, as so frequently happened in the Middle Ages, it is requisite for this condition to have been made at the time of foundation with the consent of the bishop, or that it be subsequently stipulated.
[14] The duty (iura onerosa) of the patron is, in the first place, the cura beneficii, the care to preserve unimpaired the status of the benefice and the conscientious discharge of the obligations connected therewith.