An ecclesiastical crime is a crime (
delict
Delict (from Latin ''dēlictum'', past participle of ''dēlinquere'' ‘to be at fault, offend’) is a term in civil and mixed law jurisdictions whose exact meaning varies from jurisdiction to jurisdiction but is always centered on the notion of ...
) committed against
Catholic canon law
The canon law of the Catholic Church () is "how the Church organizes and governs herself". It is the system of religious laws and ecclesiastical legal principles made and enforced by the hierarchical authorities of the Catholic Church to regul ...
''vis-à-vis''
civil law.
Examples
The crime of
simony
Simony () is the act of selling church offices and roles or sacred things. It is named after Simon Magus, who is described in the Acts of the Apostles as having offered two disciples of Jesus payment in exchange for their empowering him to imp ...
is the ecclesiastical crime of paying for offices or positions in the hierarchy of a church. The crimes of
schism
A schism ( , , or, less commonly, ) is a division between people, usually belonging to an organization, movement, or religious denomination. The word is most frequently applied to a split in what had previously been a single religious body, suc ...
and
heresy
Heresy is any belief or theory that is strongly at variance with established beliefs or customs, particularly the accepted beliefs or religious law of a religious organization. A heretic is a proponent of heresy.
Heresy in Heresy in Christian ...
are also ecclesiastical crimes.
Financial and donation related
The term is also specifically used today for
misappropriation
In law, misappropriation is the unauthorized use of another's name, likeness, identity, property, discoveries, inventions, etc. without that person's permission, resulting in harm to that person.
Another use of the word refers to intentional a ...
of donation monies. In the
International Bulletin of Missionary Research, January 2009, David B. Barrett, Todd M. Johnson, Peter F Crossing, in a study titled, "Christian World Communions: Five Overviews of Global Christianity, AD 1800–2025", show that "ecclesiastical crime" is growing at 5.77% per annum and in mid-2009 is estimated to be US$27 billion on a total "giving to Christian causes" of $410 Billion. Unchecked this crime will be valued at $65 Billion by 2025.
(PDF) Extract from International Bulletin of Missionary Research, Vol. 33, No. 1
See also
* Ecclesiastical courts
In organized Christianity, an ecclesiastical court, also called court Christian or court spiritual, is any of certain non-adversarial courts conducted by church-approved officials having jurisdiction mainly in spiritual or religious matters. Histo ...
* Ecclesiastical ordinances
An ordinance or ecclesiastical ordinance is a type of law, legal instrument, or by-law in the canon law of the Catholic Church, the Anglican Communion, and in Calvinism.
Each Christian denomination that has a hierarchy tends to need rules and re ...
* Ecclesiastical prison
* Canon law
Canon law (from , , a 'straight measuring rod, ruler') is a set of ordinances and regulations made by ecclesiastical jurisdiction, ecclesiastical authority (church leadership) for the government of a Christian organization or church and its membe ...
* Sacrament of Penance
The Sacrament of Penance (also commonly called the Sacrament of Reconciliation or Confession) is one of the seven sacraments of the Catholic Church (known in Eastern Christianity as sacred mysteries), in which the faithful are absolved from si ...
References
Crime
Catholic penal canon law
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