El Control de las Enajenaciones de Bienes Eclesiásticos. El Patrimonio Estable by Diego Zalbidea (review)

470 the jurist dialogue continue to strive for “that unity for which Christ himself prayed and which, by its nature is expressed in the communion of faith, of the sacraments, of the ministry.”2 Sean O. Sheridan, T.O.R. School of Canon Law The Catholic University of America Washington DC EL CONTROL DE LAS ENAJENACIONES DE BIENES ECLESIÁSTICOS . EL PATRIMONIO ESTABLE by Diego Zalbidea. Pamplona: EUNSA, 2008. The author, assistant professor of Patrimonial Law on the Faculty of Canon Law at the University of Navarra, observes that the Church from its inception has always required temporal goods to carry out the mission entrusted to it by God. Likewise, there has been a close relationship between these goods and the ends for which they are destined. Within this context and because of their importance, the realities of administration and alienation have been constituted under various forms of control and protection throughout history and in current canonical legislation. In a succinct manner within the broad topic of temporal goods, the author focuses his study on the alienation of ecclesiastical goods; and within this topic he devotes special attention to the topic of stable patrimony , as the part of the ecclesiastical patrimony under which alienation falls as a matter of general principle. The figure of stable patrimony, presented in a new fashion in the 1983 code, existed in canonical reflection or doctrine prior to the current code and in a latent manner at least in some of the decisions of the Roman curia. However, canonically speaking , it is more precisely recognized and regulated in today’s legislation. The book contains five (5) chapters, each one with an introduction and a conclusion, and an appendix with seven (7) documents. Chapter one addresses “The Antecedents of Stable Patrimony up to the 1983 CIC.” This chapter presents in three sections this legal figure according to the doctrine and the legislative tradition of the 1917 code. First it unfolds the 2 Ibid. norms on alienation of ecclesiastical goods before the first codification. It does so in four points: the norms from the earliest beginnings to the fourth century, from the fourth century to the Constitution Ambitiosae of Paul II, from that constitution until the promulgation of the 1917 code, and the doctrine on this topic up to the 1917 code. The second section covers the concepts of alienation and stable patrimony in the prior code, analyzing the process of codification of the 1917 code and the regulations on alienation in canons 1530 and 1533 of the former law. The third section presents the doctrine on the subject subsequent to the 1917 code. Chapter two analyzes “Stable Patrimony in the 1983 Code of Canon Law.” Several important points enable one to understand the significance and extent of this canonical institution in light of the 1983 code. The concepts of alienation and stable patrimony are developed: the description of these goods and their legitimate assignation as stable patrimony , the active subject of alienation; the amount established by legitimate authority for alienation, the required authorization of the competent authority to alienate goods of stable patrimony, and the procedure for carrying out the same. Having presented the basic theory and technicalities of the institutions of alienation and stable patrimony in light of current legislation, chapter three introduces “The Reception and Utilization of the Figure of Stable Patrimony by Public Juridic Persons with Special Reference to the Spanish Case.” The author presents the particular norms of episcopal conferences of various countries with special attention given to the norms of the Episcopal Conference of Spain. This serves to verify the actual level of appropriation or not of the concept of alienation in the patrimonial regulations contained in the particular norms of public ecclesiastical juridic persons. Chapter four addresses “Contributions to the Stable Patrimony Seen from Comparative Law and Financial Theory.” The chapter proposes to extend the discussion to other disciplines such as financial theory and comparative law (civil law of foundations and public administrations) in order to analyze the importance given to such management in treating analogous situations or structures similar to stable patrimony in canon law. Finally, chapter five addresses “Stable Patrimony: A Proposal for its Revitalization.” The chapter offers...