Is the Roman Catholic Church considered as corporation?

Answer 1

The Catholic Church must have a legal existence so it can operate under civil law. It requires an entity that can be served with civil suits and that can hold title to real property. For example, the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Boston is termed a Corporation Sole, a legal entity that was created under Massachusetts law in 1897. Under Massachusetts law that entity has the legal ownership of assets under the jurisdiction of the Archbishop who is in office at any given time. In other geographic subdivisions a Bishop may have the powers of a Corporation Sole. The laws may vary from state to state but the Bishops generally have a "corporate" position to act for the Church in legal matters.

The Church owns a vast amount of real property. Any deed of conveyance must be executed by the person in office. Any civil lawsuits are served on the same. In that respect the Church has a corporate presence.

Additional AnswerHistorically speaking, the Catholic church was the frist premodern corporation (15th century), the East India Company was the first modern corporation (17th century).

Timur Kuran writes: "Around 1000, as Islamic contract law was assuming the classic form that would remain essentially unchanged for the next millennium, the West was continuing to experiment, in uncoordinated fashion, with the corporate form of organization. A critical step in the development of the corporation was taken about two centuries later. Following the split of Christianity in 1054, and during the struggle to emancipate religion from the control of emperors, kings, and feudal lords (1075-1122), the Roman Catholic Church began calling itself a corporation. This struggle, considered to have culminated in the Papal Revolution, gave rise to the new canon law (jus novum) of the Catholic Church." (The Absence of the Corporation in Islamic Law: Origins and Persistence)

Answer 2

No, first of all, the Catholic Church is not referred to as the "Roman" Catholic Church except in English speaking countries which are most familiar with the Latin Rite. Roman Catholic Church originated as a slur in England after the Protestant revolt.

Secondly, each diocese, headed by a Bishop, is the Catholic Church. There is no world-wide legal entity called the Catholic Church, there is a moral entity called the Catholic Church under the Pope, but legally each diocese is independent and is considered a church entire in Catholic law.

In the United States, each diocese is incorporated in American law as a corporate sole, meaning that the diocese is incorporated in the person of the Bishop of that diocese and he owns all the land, the parish churches, the rectories, convents, etc. in his diocese - in his name.

A corporation in the United States is a legal entity recognized by the government. Each individual diocese would be considered a legal corporation from that point of view NOT the Catholic Church as a whole.

Answer 3

In the United Kingdom, each Catholic Diocese is registered as a charitable trust. This is a legal entity with no direct equivalent in the USA.