India’s clergy can now own property

Ruling ends dated tradition of vowing to live in poverty

KOCHI, INDIA // A high court in southern India has ruled that Christian priests and nuns are entitled to property despite their vows of poverty, signalling an end to a centuries-old tradition that has left many in the clergy destitute.

The court in Kerala state made the order in favour of a priest whose relatives cut him out of his share of ancestral property.

The court said that priests were free to give up their property if they wished, but that there can be no automatic deprivation simply because they are in a religious order and have renounced worldly pleasures.

The ruling applies to all religions in the state and to women in a religious order.

The high court, which overturned a ruling by a lower court against the priest, placed the Indian succession act – which guarantees all citizens equal inheritance rights – above canon law, which requires the surrender of any inheritance to the church, said Sabu George, a lawyer for the priest.

The verdict can help retired priests and nuns to “lead a decent life”, said K P Shibu Kalamparambil, secretary of an association of Roman Catholic priests and nuns.

“Hundreds of former priests and retired priests are living in penury in India, as most families refuse to take them back when they are old and have no work,” said Mr Kalamparambil, who spent 27 years as a priest.

The Catholic priests’ association has long demanded a state pension and compensation from the church for retired priests and those who leave the clergy. They are often forced to live on a small stipend or depend on the largesse of the parish. A spokesman for the Roman Catholic Church in the state said they were disappointed with the ruling and may appeal.

“It is unfortunate that the law of the church has not been appreciated,” said Paul Thelakkat, a senior priest.

Kerala contributes more than half of India’s clergy.

The church may still force the clergy to give up their property, and the ruling also does not benefit those who have already given their properties to the church, said Reji Njallani, national president of the priests’ association.

“We will ask the church to return them,” he said.