2607. Special Duties from Canon Law of Those Who Have Care of Souls.—(a) Bishops have grave obligations of residing in their see or diocese (Canon 338), of attending to the instruction of their flock (Canons 1327, 336), of applying the Mass _pro populo_ (Canon 339), of making a diocesan report (Canon 340), of confirming and of ordaining worthy candidates (Canon 785), of visiting their dioceses (Canon 343), of making the _ad limina_ visit (Canons 340, 342), and of calling a diocesan synod at least every tenth year (Canon 356).
(b) Pastors must reside generally in their parish (Canon 465), and, if lawfully absent, they must make provision for the sick calls and other spiritual necessities of their flocks. They must preach the word of God on Sundays and holydays, and it would be a serious matter to neglect this duty for a considerable time (e.g., a whole month) without good reason (Canon 1344). It is also a serious obligation to attend to the necessary catechetical instruction of young and old (Canons 1330, 1332), to apply the Mass _pro populo_ (Canon 466), and to administer the Sacraments (at least Baptism, Penance, Extreme Unction) to those in grave spiritual need (see 1167). Pastors are also obliged to know their flock, to visit the sick and dying, to correct abuses, to see that the customary administration of the Sacraments and the usual church functions are attended to, to watch over the schooling of the children, and to direct the temporalities and attend to the reports and records of the parish. The duties of chaplains of hospitals, institutions, soldiers, etc., are similar to those of pastors, but in particular cases the former are subject to special prescriptions or to local usage or to rules made by the Ordinary.
(c) Assistant pastors are subject in the care of souls to the instruction and direction of the parish-priest. Their particular duties are known from the diocesan statutes, the letters of the Ordinary, and the commission of the pastor. Regularly, they are bound to reside in the parish rectory and to assist the pastor or supply for him in all the parish work, the Mass _pro populo_ excepted (Canon 476).
2608. The Duty of Charity to the Poor.—(a) According to Canon Law all beneficed clergy (Cardinals excepted) must give all the superfluous fruits of their benefice to charitable or pious causes (Canon 1473). But it is an extremely strict view which holds that all the secular clergy are beneficed.
(b) According to the divine law of charity (see 1226, 1252) even the unbeneficed clergy have the duty of giving alms from their surplus wealth. Thus, it would be unmerciful if a clergyman spent on himself all the fortune he had inherited from his relatives without thought of the poor; it would be often a source of scandal if a priest enriched his relatives with money received in ministerial ways, but left nothing to pious causes.
2609. Canon 1473 on the Disposition of Superfluous Wealth by Beneficed Clergy.—(a) The Money to be Spent.—The Canon does not refer to the property of the Church (i.e., the foundation or endowment of the benefice), for of this the beneficed clergyman is only the administrator, and he would be unjust if he alienated its funds to other purposes; nor does it refer to the clergyman’s own property, such as goods received by inheritance or other profane title (_patrimonialia_), or by title of personal ministerial service, such as stipends and fees (_quasi-patrimonialia_). It refers, then, to the revenues of the benefice (e.g., the bishop’s or pastor’s salary) and to the amount that is left over after the deduction of all reasonable and customary expenses that have been made, or could have been made for decent personal support.
(b) The Use of Surplus Money.—The alms should be given to any pious or charitable cause, such as the promotion of divine worship, the assistance of needy missions, the spiritual or corporal works of mercy. The cleric is free to bestow his gift either during his lifetime (which is better) or to leave it in his will.
2610. The Obligation of Canon 1473.—(a) The obligation is most probably not one of justice, since the holder of the benefice owns the superfluous fruits, but one of obedience to the Church. Some authors also consider this precept as binding in virtue of religion and charity, and regard its violation as a sacrilege or sin against charity. The holder of the benefice is not held to restitution, however, since neglect of the precept is not an injustice. As to his successors through gift inter vivos or testament, they are not bound to give the superfluities as an alms, since the church precept was for the cleric himself. Successors to an intestate should observe the wishes of the deceased, but, if the character of the goods they inherit is doubtful, they may usually be left in good faith.
(b) The obligation is grave, since it is commanded as an act of religion, or at least as an act of obedience in a very important matter. From the time of the Apostles it was customary to distribute to the poor what was left over of the goods of the Church, and the clergy were regarded as the fathers and protectors of the needy. Again, since the goods of a benefice originated in gifts offered to God Himself, it is most becoming that their superfluities be devoted to the causes most pleasing to God. Grave matter would be three times the amount required in theft, because a violation of this precept is not the taking of what is not one’s own, but the using in a forbidden way of what is one’s own.
2611. The Special Duties of Religious.—The particular obligations of religious are declared in the proper rules of the various institutes, just as the particular obligations of the secular clergy are set forth in the statutes of local synods and councils. We shall outline here only the general obligations of religious, to which they are held by the common law of the Church.