101. Debts, Permission, Presumed.—Notwithstanding a rule or ecclesiastical law of the church that a pastor shall not contract debts in the name or for the sake of the church without the written permission of the bishop, such written permission is not evidence that debts contracted under it are the legal debts of the bishop. The authority which bishops delegate to priests is under the ecclesiastical law and prima facie ecclesiastical authority, and must be presumed to be so in the absence of all evidence to the contrary.[189]
102. Official Acts, Subscriptions.—The official acts of a minister coming in question incidentally, unless contrary to the statute, [pg 071] are as valid as the official acts of any other officer.[190] A clergyman who was engaged to conduct dedication services and was requested by the officers of the local corporation to solicit subscriptions for paying off the indebtedness of the church, but was not appointed agent to receive such subscriptions, had no authority to accept a subscription for the corporation.[191]
103. Exemptions, Clergy.—The exemptions given ministers by the statutes of some States are liberally construed.[192] Without any statutory exemption, the clergy are liable for all duties required of other citizens.[193]
104. Minister, Contributions, Deposed.—No religious teacher or minister can be enjoined from receiving voluntary contributions, although he has been deposed by some ecclesiastical tribunal.[194]
105. Fees, Usages, Excess.—The fees of a priest of the Catholic Church are regulated by the laws and usages of that Church, and where in this country the pew rent and collections go for the support of the priest and the current church expenses, a priest is [pg 072] not accountable for the excess of such collections over these expenditures.[195]
106. Salary, Fees.—Under the act of March, 1814, incorporating a congregation, the congregation, being the legal owners and temporal administrators of the property which it was authorized to hold, had the exclusive power to fix the salary of the parish priest or the tariff of fees for marriages, burial, etc. No such power could be exercised under that act by the Pope or any bishop.[196]
107. Clergyman, Salary.—Where a clergyman agreed with a congregation that the salary should be what could be raised by subscription, the congregation was bound to use due diligence in procuring subscriptions, and as it did so, that was all that the clergyman could recover.[197]
108. Curate, Services.—In an action by a curate against a religious corporation for personal services, the court will not inquire into the spiritual relations existing between the parties, but will examine their legal rights only.[198]
109. Minister, Dismissal, Money Advanced.—After a parish has voted to dismiss [pg 073] the minister, it is not competent to prove irregular conduct or immorality in answer to his claim for salary, without alleging it in the vote of dismissal.[199] In Illinois it was held that a priest who advanced money from his private resources for improving church property, had an equitable lien upon the property for all the money advanced, with legal interest.[200] But in Pennsylvania, where a priest under the direction of the bishop built a church in his parish for mission purposes, and in doing so expended some of his own money, it was held that in the absence of proof of any rule or custom of the Catholic Church making the payment of such expenses obligatory on the parish, that he could not recover the money so expended from his congregation.[201]