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Thursday, January 27, 2005

Diocesan Finance Council

Statutes of the Diocesan Finance Council
of the
Diocese of _________________


I. NATURE AND PURPOSE:
The Diocesan Finance Council is a consultative organ of the diocese, which assists the Diocesan Bishop in the administration of the temporal goods of the Diocese of _______________.

II. COMPETENCE:
1. The Diocesan Finance Council assists the Bishop in the direction of the administration of the temporal goods of the Diocese of _____________, and in particular it:

a) formulates the policies for the administration of the goods of the diocese on
the part of the Economus in particular, and of the other administrators who are subject to the diocesan bishop in general (can 494, p. 2);

b) designs ways and means in the sourcing of funds for the diocese;

c) promotes the constitution of the Parish Finance Councils in the parishes;

d) reviews the administration of temporal goods of other diocesan entities,
e.g., diocesan schools, and approved religious organizations;

e) comments on the reasonability of the plans/projects involving extraordinary
administration of the diocesan entities which are subject to the
diocesan bishop (c. 1281);

2. The DFC comments on the acts of the administration which are of great importance of the diocesan bishop, regarding the diocese as a whole. Its consent is to be sought in extraordinary acts of administration according to the code (cc. 1291-1295);

3. The DFC comments on acts relative to the diocesan entities subject to the diocesan bishop as provided by cc. 1291-1295;

4. The DFC prepares the Annual Budget of the in-coming year for the diocese (c. 493). Further, it comments on the budget of other diocesan entities;

5. The DFC examines the financial statements of other diocesan entities which are subject to the diocesan bishop (c. 1287, § 1);

6. The DFC draws up the annual financial statements of income and expenditures of the diocese at the end of the year (c. 493).

III. Composition:

1. The DFC shall be composed of eight (8) members: two (2) ex officio, namely, the bishop and the economus and eight (8) appointive members. The diocesan bishop shall appoint two (2) priests, and the Episcopal vicar of each of the three (3) regions of the diocese shall nominate one (1) pastor and one (1) lay person.

2. The bishop shall appoint the nominated members who should have the qualifications according to c. 492, namely, expert in financial affairs and civil laws, and of outstanding integrity.

3. They shall hold office for five (5) years and their mandate may be renewed as many times necessary (c. 492 n. 2). After the expiry of their term they remain in charge of their office until the appointment of the new council members.

4. At the moment of the acceptance of the appointment, the council members guarantee, by taking an oath before the ordinary, to honestly and faithfully perform their office (c. 1283, 1), and keep in secrecy whatever activities the councils gets involved in. From secrecy the president can dispense "ad actum".

5. In the case of the substitution of a council members, the substituting members shall remain in office for the duration of the term of the member being substituted.

IV. THE PRESIDENCY AND SECRETARY:

1. The DFC is presided by the Diocesan Bishop and in his absence, by his delegate.

2. It is the duty of the president to convoke the council, to moderate the sessions, to coordinate relationships with the other diocesan organs, particularly with the Board of Consultors, the Presbyteral Council and the offices of the curia.

3. The secretary is appointed by the Diocesan Bishop from among the members of the DFC. The secretary shall hold office for five (5) years and this mandate may be renewed. The secretary has the duty to:
i. Transmit the written convocation, with the agenda, the order of the day
and other enclosures, at least eight (8) days before the meeting;
ii. Take the minutes of the meeting, the copy of which should be
countersigned by the president;
iii. Take care of the archives of the DFC, besides making and keeping its
ordinary documents.

V. SESSIONS

1. The DFC shall assemble every quarter in ordinary form to examine the
documents under its competence. Extraordinary convocation may be requested by the president or, at least by four (4) members with the approval of the Diocesan Bishop.

2. The president may invite to the DFC session, without the right to vote, persons whose expertise he deems to be useful to the objectives of the session.

3. The agenda and the objectives of the session shall be presented by the secretary.

4. After the members have expressed their own opinion on a determined question, the council manifests an opinion by votation. The vote shall normally be expressed orally or by raising one's hand. The president may ask for secret balloting.

5. It is the right of every council member to request that his/her own expressed opposition or other observation be placed on the table.

6. A member is obliged to abstain from the votation when the issues treated are related to the institution/s one administers.

VI. RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN DFC AND THE ECONOMUS (Financial Administrator):

Without prejudice to the provisions of canon 494, §§ 1-4, the Economus has the following functions in relations to the DFC:

1. The office of the economus implements and executes the directives of the Diocesan Bishop as assisted by the DFC.

2. In the implementation process, the office holder shall have the competence to create appropriate desks with the approval of the DFC.

3. In particular he has the following specific and customary functions:

A. Administration of Goods:
1. To receive and keep accurate record of monthly remittances and other special collections -- diocesan, national, pontifical (e.g., Alay Kapwa, Mission Sunday, Lignum, etc) of the parishes.
2. To furnish reports of the monthly remittances and other collections to the priests during the regular assembly meetings.
3. To ensure that the special collections (i.e., diocesan/national/pontifical) are remitted or forwarded to the proper and designated offices.
4. To keep accurate records of the monthly contributions/payments of priests to the Medicare Fund.
5. To keep accurate records of the monthly contribution/payments of the priests to the CBCP Pension Plan.
6. To disburse Medicare Funds to priests requesting reimbursements for their medical expenses.
7. To disburse the monthly CBCP Pension allotment to pensioner-priests.
8. To keep accurate records of the monthly space rentals.
9 To keep accurate records of all the expenditures of the diocese (e.g., commissions, house, apostolate, salaries, food, etc.).
10. To keep records of business contracts/agreements entered into by the diocese.
11. To ensure the punctual payments of the annual taxes and the like.
12. To supervise the CBCP Net and other investments regularly.
13. To keep an account of the income and expenses (i.e., cash flow statement of the diocese regularly, namely, at the middle and the end of the year.
14. To assist the parishes in keeping, securing, updating and correcting the records of the ecclesiastical goods of the parishes. (Copies of such documents may be deposited in the office of the Economus).

B. Administration of the Bishop's House and Others:
1. To keep and inventory of the properties of the Bishop's House.
2. To ensure that the Bishop and the other priests/guests staying at the Bishop's House have sufficient weekly budget for food and house maintenance.
3. To supervise the up-keep, maintenance and cleanliness of the Bishop's House.
4. To supervise the workers/staff of the Bishop's House and meet them
regularly.
5. To ensure a decent accommodation for the priests during their assembly meetings and other gatherings, or for other guests who come to the house (whose presence may be entered into a log book of records).
6. To supervise the provision and food preparation during regular and special assembly of priests.
7. To supervise house and food preparations for the fiesta and other special occasions at the Bishop's House, or any place decided upon by the presbyterium where diocesan celebrations are held such as the Bishop's Birthday, Anniversary, Christmas, New Year and others).
8. To consult the Bishop at all times.

VII. EFFECTIVITY AND AMENDMENT:
1. The statutes of the Diocesan Finance Council of the Diocese of ______________ shall be effective upon the recommendation of the majority of the priests of the Diocese of Borongan and the approval of the Diocesan Bishop.

2. Any amendment, change, or addition to these statutes may be caused by a motion made by one member of the presbyterium as confirmed by a three fourths vote of the presbyterium present when such motion shall have been expressed and seconded. The effectivity of an amended provision shall, however, require the approval of the Diocesan Bishop.

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