EN BANC embraces three features, namely: First, ordering the defendant, the

Roman Catholic Archbishop of Manila, as a corporation sole, and His

[G.R. No. 27619. February 4, 1928.] Grace, Michael J. ODoherty, Roman Catholic Apostolic Archbishop of
Manila, its sole representative, forthwith to appoint plaintiff, Raul
RAUL ROGERIO GONZALEZ, by his guardian ad item Adelaida Rogerio Gonzalez, as chaplain of the said chaplaincy founded by Doa
Gonzalez, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. THE ROMAN CATHOLIC Petronila de Guzman; secondly, ordering the defendant to pay to the
ARCHBISHOP OF MANILA, Defendant-Appellant. plaintiff, through his guardian ad litem, the sum of one hundred seventy-
three thousand, seven hundred and twenty-five pesos (P173,725) as the
rents and income of the property of said chaplaincy from January 1, 1911,
Feria & La O and Araneta & Zaragoza, for Appellant.
to December 31, 1925, plus the rents and income accrued since December
31, 1925, from the total of which should be deducted the expenses allowed
Gibbs & McDonough, for Appellee.
by the court as legitimate charges against the fund, and requiring the
defendant, furthermore, to pay to the plaintiff, through his guardian or
SYLLABUS
guardian ad litem, from the date of plaintiffs appointment as chaplain,
1. ECCLESIASTICAL LAW; CHAPLAINCIES; VALIDITY OF the net income of said property from time to time as collected; thirdly,
ORDINANCE PRESCRIBING ECCLESIASTICAL QUALIFICATIONS reserving to plaintiff any legal rights that he may have with reference to
FOR CHAPLAIN. The properly constituted authorities of the Roman the cancellation of the transfer certificate of title No. 17603 in a proper
Catholic Apostolic Church have the power to adopt an ordinance proceeding before the fourth branch of this court, which branch has
prescribing ecclesiastical qualifications for chaplains to be appointed to exclusive jurisdiction of all cases relative to the registration of real estate
collative chaplaincies; and such ordinance will be effective as regards an in the City of Manila (Act No. 2347, sec. 11). From this judgment the
appointment to a benefice although at the time when the particular defendant appealed.
chaplaincy was founded no ecclesiastical qualifications were prerequisite
to the appointment. On March 13, 1816, Doa Petronila de Guzman, a resident of what is now
the district of Binondo, in the City of Manila, executed a will in which she
instructed her executor to take the steps necessary to the foundation of a
DECISION
collative chaplaincy upon certain real property adjacent to her residence
STREET, J.: in Binondo. The part of the will pertinent to the foundation is found in
This action was instituted in the Court of First Instance of Manila by three paragraphs of the will which read as follows:jgc:chanrobles.com.ph
Raul Rogerio Gonzalez, through his guardian ad litem, Adelaida
Gonzalez, against the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Manila, a "Ninth Item: I declare and dispose that the new house situated in this
corporation sole, represented by His Grace, M. J. ODoherty, Apostolic said town and bounded by this house of my residence toward the right of
Archbishop, for the purpose of obtaining a writ of mandamus requiring its exit, which between myself and my deceased sister Da. Vicenta de
the respondent to appoint the plaintiff to a vacant chaplaincy, to enforce Guzman we have constructed with our own money, at a cost of one
an accounting for the income of the chaplaincy for the period during thousand six hundred pesos without including the value of the lot on
which it. has been vacant, and to secure other relief. Upon hearing the which it is erected, and I charge my executor to constitute said house into
cause the trial court entered judgment which, as subsequently amended, a collative chaplaincy, the foundation of which they shall effect
immediately after my death, choosing for chaplain D. Esteban de last will the institution of a collative chaplaincy for one son of mine
Guzman, legitimate son of my grandson Dn. Jose Telesforo de Guzman, named Esteban Sixto de Guzman, student of the Royal College of San
and in his default, the nearest relative, and in default of the latter, a Juan de Letran, for the patronage of which the Most Reverend Father
collegian of San Juan de Letran, who should be an orphan mestizo, native President of said college has been named, with a house of lime and stone
of this said town, and I request the father chaplain to celebrate sixty situated at Calle Rosario as capital, which, according to the certificate
masses annually, which should be said in the churches of the City of hereto attached, nets a rent of one hundred eighty pesos annually, it
Manila or in those outside of its walls, and in privileged altars, in behalf being located on the Calle Real del Rosario; and I, being her testamentary
of the souls of my father, Dn. Tomas de Guzman, and of my mother, Dila. executor and appointed administrator of my above-mentioned son,
Sebastiana de Jesus, and of my brothers and sisters, and for me, the present myself before Your Most Illustrious Grace, praying that you
testatrix, after my days. declare the living sufficient and order that a title to said chaplaincy issue
to my said son and to me the administrator during his minority."cralaw
"Tenth Item: It is my will that for patron of said chaplaincy my executors virtua1aw library
name the Father President of the College of San Juan de Letran.
In support of this petition the executor of the will of the foundress
"Eleventh Item: I appoint my first executor as administrator of the executed, on April 26, 1820, a formal document of endowment, setting
chaplaincy which shall be founded on the house referred to, during the aside for pious uses the property intended for the foundation and
minority of said chaplain."cralaw virtua1aw library transferring it to the spiritual properties of the archbishopric. This
document, omitting formal parts at the end, reads as
The property thus intended as the foundation of the chaplaincy consists follows:jgc:chanrobles.com.ph
of the lots now known as Nos. 210-212 and 214, Rosario Street, Manila,
with the improvements thereon. "In the City of Manila on the 26th day of April one thousand eight
hundred and twenty, before me the Clerk of Court and the undersigned
After the death of the testatrix her executor, Don Jose Telesforo de witnesses, (appeared) D. Jose Telesforo, resident of the town of Binondo,
Guzman, on April 24, 1820, addressed a petition to the Archbishop, and testamentary executor of the deceased Da. Petronila de Guzman, as
informing him of the wishes of the testatrix and praying that the property shown by the certificate which was shown me and which appears to have
be declared sufficient and that the chaplaincy be created, with the been sealed and signed by the Public Clerk Dn. Francisco Castro de
petitioners son as chaplain and the petitioner himself as administrator of Reyes, to me known, and said
the property during the minority of the son. This petition, addressed by
the executor to the Archbishop, in the part material to be here considered, "That whereas the said Petronila de Guzman, deceased, has ordered in
reads as follows:jgc:chanrobles.com.ph the ninth clause of her will that after her death a house of lime and stone
belonging to her be constituted into a chaplaincy, which house had been
"Most Illustrious and Most Reverend SirDon Jose Telesforo de Guzman constructed by her and her deceased sister Doa Vicenta de Guzman who
resident of the town of Binondo with all due respect, before Your died single, at a cost of one thousand six hundred pesos without including
Illustrious Grace in the best legal form, I present myself and say,That the value of the lot whereon said house is erected, in said town of
the annexed testimony which with due solemnity I enclose shows that my Binondo, being bounded towards the right of its exit by the house in
deceased great grandmother Da. Petronila de Guzman provided in her which the said testatrix formerly lived, which was her own; and to
accomplish the foundation of said chaplaincy in accordance with law, the passed to the procurator fiscal for comment; and this official made
said executor appeared before the most Illustrious and Most Reverend indorsement to the effect that no reason occurred to him for opposing the
Metropolitan Archbishop, stating that (the chaplaincy) was subject to the project and that he accordingly recommended that the establishment be
charge that the incumbent was required to say sixty masses annually, effected. The matter was then brought to the attention of the Archbishop
either in the churches of this City or in those without its walls, and in who gave the necessary formal approval to the foundation and an
privileged altars, for the benefit of the souls of her deceased parents, Don appropriate decree to this effect was entered. According to the note of this
Tomas de Guzman and Doa Sebastiana de Jesus, of the testatrix and of decree, His Grace declared that "concurring entirely with what had been
her brothers and sisters, electing as chaplain her great grandson Don expressed by the promotor fiscal, he was approving and approved the
Esteban de Guzman, a student of the Royal College of San Juan de foundation of said chaplaincy, with all the circumstances and conditions
Letran, and as administrator during the minority of the said chaplain, specified in said clause (of the will) and the deed of foundation, as also the
the executor himself, upon whom she has conferred power to appoint as charge of P1,700 upon said house, erecting said sum into spiritual
Patron of the chaplaincy the Father President of the said Royal College of property and making it, as he makes it, by perpetual title, to be of the
San Juan de Letran, asking that the said living (congrua), the rents of ecclesiastical forum and jurisdiction."cralaw virtua1aw library
the property of which amount at present to P180 per year, be declared
sufficient, issuing the corresponding title of chaplain to his said son (i. e., Since the foundation of this chaplaincy, five chaplains have been
of the executor); and as a consequence whereof he (i. e., the executor) appointed thereto by the Archbishop of Manila. The first and second
segregates said property from temporal properties and transfers it to the chaplains were great grandsons of the foundress, the third was a great
spiritual properties of this Archbishopric, with the restriction that, as a great grandson, and the fourth and fifth great great great grandsons. At
spiritual property, it cannot be alienated or converted into any other the time of their appointments they were respectively more than 13, 21,
estate for any cause, even though of a more pious character, (the grantor) 22, 27 and 19 years old.
protesting that if the contrary should be done from now until then, he
declares null and without value or effect whatever may be done or The fifth and last chaplain or beneficiary of the chaplaincy in question
executed contrary to the tenor of these presents, and the said executor was Angel Gonzalez, father of the present plaintiff. This individual
affirms and ratifies said conditions before me and the witnesses herein resigned the office of chaplain, effective December 6, 1910, since which
below named, so that by virtue of this Deed of Foundation canonical date the chaplaincy has remained vacant. Though not of decisive
collation may be conferred on the said appointed chaplain. And for its importance in the case, the document by which Angel Gonzalez was
stability and greater validity he renounces with all solemnity the laws appointed to the chaplaincy on August 21, 1901, is perhaps instructive as
that may favor the said decedent, inserting and repeating herein all the indicating the nature of the rights appurtenant to the office. Omitting the
clauses that may be necessary with all the requisites and conditions, so formal conclusion, this document reads as follows:jgc:chanrobles.com.ph
that the purpose which actuated her to do this act of piety may be duly
accomplished, with the solemnities above set forth and the conditions "Whereas, the Chaplaincy founded by Da. Petronila de Guzman, the
herein inserted, which he asks and charges the above named chaplain capital of which consists of a building of brick and mortar erected on its
and those who will succeed him to respect, comply and execute ad own lot located on the Calle de Rosario, District of Binondo, is now vacant
perpetuam rei memoriam amen."cralaw virtua1aw library because of the renunciation by its last possessor D. Fernando Maniquis y
Guzman; now, therefore, the necessary requisites and qualifications
The two documents from which we have just quoted appear to have been according to law being found concurring in D. Angel Gonzalez y Guzman,
tonsured, a boarding student in the College of San Juan de Letran of this the sum of P20,125, as insurance, upon occasion of the destruction by fire
City, we order to issue and do issue this present title by virtue of which of the house belonging to the chaplaincy. The expenses of rebuilding and
we elect and appoint the above-named D. Angel Gonzalez y Guzman, as repairs, over the same period, is stated to have been P24,603.34. All of the
chaplain of the benefice above referred to, and by the manner and form income thus received, less the expenses of administration and cost of the
which we best can do, we hereby give him collation, canonical institution masses, has been applied to the purposes of education, beneficence, and
and real possession vel quasi of the above-mentioned chaplaincy, which charity, under the directions of the Archbishop, with the approval of His
shall be administered as heretofore by the administrator of the funds of Holiness, the Pope.
this Holy Archbishopric, so that, as such chaplain he may possess and
enjoy it as an ecclesiastical benefice and by perpetual title with the Since the Council of Trent it has been the law of the Roman Catholic
obligation of ordering to be said, by means of a priest, while he himself Apostolic Church that no person who has received the first tonsure or who
cannot say them, sixty masses annually according to the will of the has already been ordained in minority is eligible to a benefice before his
foundress, and with the understanding that every year he has to show to 14th year (Council of Trent, Chap. 6, sec. 23, July, 1563), that is to say, he
our Court of Chaplaincies wherein this shall be recorded, that he has must be at least 13 years and 1 day old. With this exception there seems
discharged said masses, without which requisite the rent which for the to have been no ecclesiastical law or ordinance of the Church in force at
purpose may be necessary shall be withheld from him. And by virtue of the time the chaplaincy in question was founded, prescribing
Holy Obedience we order those to whom these presents may concern to ecclesiastical qualifications for incumbents of the office of chaplain.
have and treat the said D. Angel Gonzalez y Guzman as the beneficiary However, in the year 1918 a new canon law was promulgated by the
and possessor of said chaplaincy, and that they pay him well and Catholic Church to the effect that "the chaplaincies, or simple benefices,
faithfully the income which in the future the capital may produce and are conferred on clericals of the secular clergy;" and in order to be a
that which it has produced while vacant, placing upon his conscience the clerical, one must have received the first tonsure. Also in order to take the
duty of complying with the annexed conditions and relieving us first tonsure, one must have begun the study of theology, and in order to
thereof."cralaw virtua1aw library study theology, one must be a bachelor.

The function of administering the property pertaining to the foundation Raul Rogerio Gonzalez, the plaintiff in this action, was born on
appears to have been exercised, at least since about 1863, by the September 16, 1912. He was therefore nearly 12 years of age when this
Archbishop; and for this service a commission has been charged against action was instituted on July 31, 1924. He is a son of Angel Gonzalez, the
the incumbent whenever a chaplain has been in office. In September, last incumbent of the chaplaincy in question. At the trial the young man
1914, a Torrens title in fee simple was issued for the property in the name testified that he was then a student in the sixth grade of the public school
of the Archbishop. During vacancies the duty of causing sixty masses to and that his inclinations and desires are towards an ecclesiastical career.
be said per annum, as provided in the will, devolves upon the Archbishop; More than two years prior to the institution of this action he was
and this obligation has been performed by the present respondent, at an presented to the Archbishop of Manila, with the request that he be
expense of not more than P300 per year. appointed to the chaplaincy in question, he being at that time 10 years of
age. The application was turned down by the Archbishop in a letter,
The trial judge found that, from January 1, 1911, to December 31, 1925, addressed to the boys father, and dated March 20, 1922, on the ground
the administrator had obtained, in the way of rents of the property, a that the youth did not have the necessary qualifications under existing
total of P153,600. In addition to this there was collected, in the year 1912, canon law. His Grace, the Archbishop of Manila, testified that although
he could not appoint plaintiff as chaplain of the chaplaincy in question, he a collative character; and to this end the property which was to serve as
had made an offer at his expense to educate the plaintiff so that he might the foundation of the chaplaincy was segregated by the executor of Doa
obtain the necessary preparations to qualify himself as a cleric and might Petronila de Guzman from other property pertaining to her estate and
later be appointed as chaplain. He added, however, that although he did transferred to the Church, with the effect of its being converted into
not consider himself in duty bound to make such an offer, the same was spiritual property for the pious use intended. Furthermore, in accepting
made for equitable motives in view of the claim of the child as the nearest the transfer, the Archbishop declared that said property was raised to the
relative of the foundress of the said chaplaincy. status of spiritual property and that it thereby passed to the ecclesiastical
forum and jurisdiction. Speaking broadly, the substantial effect of the
In the deed of foundation of April 26, 1820, the Presiding Father of the conveyance of the property to the Church and the acceptance of the
Royal College of San Juan de Letran is designated as patron of the transfer by the Archbishop in the manner above stated was that the legal
chaplaincy; and before this action was instituted, Father Calixto Prieto, title of the property became vested in the Archbishop, subject to the
then rector of San Juan de Letran College, addressed a letter to the ecclesiastical charge intended in the creation of the chaplaincy.
Archbishop, presenting the plaintiff as candidate for the chaplaincy.
Father Prieto stated that, prior to presenting the plaintiff for the The trial judge found that the plaintiff is next kin (pariente mas cercano)
chaplaincy, he satisfied himself that the applicant was the heir to the to the foundress of the chaplaincy, in the sense intended in the Ninth
chaplaincy, but did not take account of his moral or intellectual Item of the will, and, therefore, that he is qualified for the chaplaincy in
qualifications, leaving these matters to be passed upon by his superior. point of relationship. Exception is taken to this finding by the appellant,
The application of the plaintiff was also indorsed by other priests of the who maintains that there is no evidence in the record to support it. We
church. are of the opinion, however, that the proof on this point is sufficient, and
we shall assume in what is to follow that the necessary relationship on
We now pass to the consideration of the nature of the chaplaincy, or office the part of the plaintiff to the foundress exists.
of chaplain, as understood in Spanish and ecclesiastical law. In the first
place, it is to be noted that the collative chaplaincy is a form of As has been already stated, this action was instituted shortly before the
ecclesiastical benefice, in which the incumbent is appointed and plaintiff had reached the age of 12 years; and upon this fact the appellant
canonically installed by the Bishop, or Archbishop, and given a living, plants the proposition that the plaintiff is not qualified for the chaplaincy
constituting a charge upon specified property, subject to the duty of on point of his age. The appellee has attempted to meet this criticism by
saying masses and performing other pious or religious duties. The the filing of an amended complaint on April 5, 1926, when the plaintiff
collative chaplaincy is said to be a simple benefice. In the second place, was in his 15th year. We shall therefore assume, for the purposes of this
the term "collative chaplaincy" is used in contradistinction to "lay decision, that the immaturity of the plaintiff in point of age is not a fatal
chaplaincy" ; and the difference is that the collative chaplaincy can be obstacle to the maintenance of the action; and at any rate in the view we
constituted only upon the intervention of ecclesiastical authority, while take of the case this question may be ignored.
the lay chaplaincy does not require such intervention.
Upon turning our attention more directly to the legal aspects of the
In the case before us it is undeniable, and admitted, that the chaplaincy controversy, we discover that the case of the plaintiff proceeds upon a
in question is of the sort known as the collative chaplaincy. The train of reasoning which may be expressed as follows, namely, that the
documents of foundation expressly provide that this chaplaincy shall be of Archbishop, as representative of the Church, is the holder of the empty
legal title to the property on which the chaplaincy is founded; that the religious purposes, of the income derived from the property during a
beneficial interest thereto is vested exclusively in the heirs of the vacancy in the office of chaplain, subject only to the obligation of causing
foundress; that the plaintiff, as her next of kin, has an unqualified right masses to be said as required in the documents of foundation; that the
to be appointed to the chaplaincy, without regard to his lack of incumbent of the office of chaplain is entitled, from the bounty of the
ecclesiastical qualifications; that the plaintiff, having title to the Archbishop, to receive the income derived from the property during his
chaplaincy, is entitled to demand of the defendant the entire net income incumbency in the office to the extent necessary to secure a suitable
received by the latter as administrator of the property during the pending living only, and that, as to the residue, it is the duty of the chaplain to
vacancy, as well as the right to be paid the income that may hereafter be apply it to charitable and religious purposes; that the subject matter of
produced by the property so long as the plaintiff shall occupy the post of this suit is not a proper matter of cognizance in any civil court; and,
chaplain. In a word, it is the contention of the plaintiff that the finally, that the court of origin was without jurisdiction to compel the
foundation in question is a perfected trust, enforcible in a court of equity, Archbishop to perform a canonical function, to wit, to appoint the plaintiff
that the Archbishop is a mere trustee, and that the plaintiff is the present to an ecclesiastical office.
rightful beneficiary of the entire property.
While the field of controversy thus laid out is extensive, it will be found,
On the other hand, the attorneys for the Archbishop challenge practically upon a careful survey of the ground, that the decision must in the end
every phase of the plaintiffs presentation of the case; and in this turn upon one or two vital points, which are concerned with the right of
connection various propositions are submitted by them, which may the plaintiff to the chaplaincy and the right of the court to compel the
perhaps be fairly condensed as follows: That the transfer made by the Archbishop to appoint the plaintiff to said office.
executor of the foundress of the property with which we are here
concerned had the effect of conveying it to the Archbishop, as At the outset of the discussion we may state that we see no reason to
representative of the Church, in whom, upon his acceptance of the same, question the jurisdiction of the court over the subject matter of the action.
the entire property became vested, for the purpose of maintaining the The complaint alleges that the plaintiff is beneficiary of a trust, and that
chaplaincy in question, and subject to all the circumstances and the defendant, as trustee, has refused to recognize the plaintiffs right to
conditions specified in the documents; that the collative chaplaincy thus the office of chaplain and is diverting the income of the foundation to
constituted is an ecclesiastical benefice, the right of appointment to which unlawful uses. As was observed by Mr. Justice Miller, of the Supreme
is vested exclusively in the Archbishop; that the Church, by lawful Court of the United States, in the leading case of Watson v. Jones (13
ordinance, effective in 1918, has required that, in order to be eligible to Wallace, 679, 723; 20 Law. ed., 666), it seems hardly to admit of rational
the office of chaplain, the candidate must possess ecclesiastical doubt that an individual may dedicate property by way of trust to the
qualifications, of the sufficiency of which the Archbishop is constituted purpose of sustaining religious doctrines, provided that in so doing he
judge; that the plaintiff in this action does not possess the qualifications violates no law of morality and gives to the instrument by which his
for chaplain which have thus been prescribed, and the Archbishop has so purpose is to be accomplished the formalities which the law requires. It
found and declared; that, by the laws of the Church, the plaintiff, if also seems to be the obvious duty of the court, in a case properly made, to
aggrieved by the decision of the Archbishop, has a right of appeal to His see that the property so dedicated is not diverted from the trust which is
Holiness, the Pope, of which right the plaintiff has not availed himself; thus attached to its use; and so long as there is any one so interested in
that, as the owner of the property which is the subject of this foundation, the execution of the trust as to have a standing in court, it must be that
the Archbishop has the free disposition, for charitable, educational, and he can prevent the diversion of the property or fund to other and different
uses. This is the general doctrine of courts of equity as to charities, and it Manila to appoint the plaintiff to an ecclesiastical office, for that the office
seems equally applicable to ecclesiastical matters (23 R. C. L., p. 451). of chaplain is of an ecclesiastical nature is undeniable. It is a sinister
But while it may be, and is, the duty of the court to inquire into a case of omen for the plaintiffs case that no decision of any civil court whatever
the character stated in this complaint, the rule to be applied in can be pointed to as a precedent for such an exercise of judicial power, and
determining the right to relief is to be sought in the principles governing the mere novelty of the proposition is an argument against the soundness
the courts in dealing with rights derived from ecclesiastical sources. of the plaintiffs case. It is true that there are decisions from the Supreme
Court of Spain wherein the right to the possession of properties
The rule that appears to offer most assistance in the solution of the case constituting the foundation of chaplaincies has been debated, and
before us is that formulated by the Court of Appeals of South Carolina in numerous cases are found in modern Spanish jurisprudence where
the case of Harmon v. Dreher (Speers Eq., 87), to the effect that: Where a actions have been maintained by heirs of the founders to recover property
civil right depends upon some matter pertaining to ecclesiastical affairs, constituting the foundation of chaplaincies; but such actions had their
the civil tribunal tries the civil right and nothing more, taking the basis in the Spanish legislation abolishing chaplaincies. But so far as our
ecclesiastical decisions out of which the civil right has arisen as it finds investigations go, and as far as the industry of counsel has revealed, no
them, and accepting those decisions as matters adjudicated by another case has been discovered where Bishop or Archbishop has been compelled
jurisdiction. The proposition thus stated in Harmon v. Dreher has to appoint any person to the office of chaplain or other ecclesiastical
subsequently been considered from different points of view by many able benefice. It is also true that there are a few English and American
courts, and it has uniformly been looked upon as a sound and correct decisions in which the rights of rectors, or ministers, after the title to the
statement of the law in cases where it is of proper application. Among ecclesiastical office had once been acquired, have been sustained in the
decisions in which said rule has been quoted with approval are Watson v. courts in the face of attempts to deprive them of their office. But so far as
Jones (13 Wall., 679; 20 Law. ed., 666); Lamb v. Cain (129 Ind., 486; 14 L. the American courts are concerned, these cases proceed exclusively on the
R. A., 518; 29 N. E., 13); and White Lick Quarterly Meeting of Friends v. idea of supplying redress for breach of contract; and neither American nor
White Lick Quarterly Meeting of Friends (89 Ind., 136). English jurisprudence supplies any precedent for compelling the
ecclesiastical authorities to appoint a person to an ecclesiastical office.
Upon examination of the decisions it will be readily apparent that cases
involving questions relative to ecclesiastical rights have always received In dealing with the subject of the conclusiveness of the decisions of church
the profoundest attention from the courts, not only because of their authorities in ecclesiastical matters the author of the monographic article
inherent interest, but because of the far reaching effects of the decisions on "Religious Societies," in Ruling Case Law, has this to say: ". . .The
in human society. Moreover, courts have learned the lesson of judgment of the constituted church tribunal is absolutely conclusive upon
conservatism in dealing with such matters, it having been found that, in the civil courts, whether, in the opinion of the judges of such courts, the
a form of government where the complete separation of civil and decision appears to be right or wrong. Where a right of property turns
ecclesiastical authority is insisted upon, the civil courts must not allow upon such a decision, the civil courts will allow the property to go in that
themselves to intrude unduly in matters of an ecclesiastical nature. direction in which the decision of the church tribunal carries it. According
to the rule broadly stated by some courts, when a civil right depends upon
It will be noted that the first and principal relief sought by the plaintiff in some matter pertaining to ecclesiastical affairs, the civil tribunal tries the
the case before us is to obtain from the court an order, in the form of writ right and nothing more, taking the ecclesiastical decisions out of which
of mandamus or injunction, requiring the Roman Catholic Archbishop of the civil right has arisen as it finds them, and accepts such decisions as
matters adjudicated by another legally constituted jurisdiction."cralaw exception in favor of candidates to chaplaincies already created. But it is
virtua1aw library said that, if interpreted in this sense, the ordinance will be retroactive.
This is in our opinion a mistake. If the Church had attempted to make the
In conformity with the ideas above set forth, it is insisted, for the ordinance applicable to chaplains already appointed, thereby depriving
appellant, that it was erroneous on the part of the trial court to order the them of an office as to which title had been previously acquired, the effect
defendant to perform the canonical act of appointing the plaintiff would be to make the statute truly retroactive. But such is not the case
chaplain of the chaplaincy in question, and furthermore that the trial now before us.
court erred in not accepting as conclusive the decision of the Archbishop
in regard to the question whether or not the plaintiff is ecclesiastically When the foundress caused this property to be originally conveyed to the
qualified to be appointed chaplain. The authorities, we think, strongly Church as a foundation for the chaplaincy in question, no restriction was
indicate that there is merit in this contention. But in our opinion there is imposed with respect to the requirement of ecclesiastical qualifications for
another proposition, still more clear, upon which the decision can be the chaplains to be appointed to the benefice; and in submitting the
safely rested, and this is, that as a matter of fact the plaintiff does not appointment of the chaplains to the ecclesiastical authority, as resulted
possess the qualifications necessary for appointment to the office of from the creation of a collative chaplaincy, it must be considered as an
chaplain and consequently that the Archbishop was justified in refusing implied term of the agreement that the ecclesiastical qualifications for the
to appoint the plaintiff to that office. We shall therefore provisionally spiritual office should be such as might be required by the Church. As was
assume that it is proper for the court to inquire into these qualifications said by Mr. Justice Miller in Watson v. Jones (13 Wall., 679, 729), all who
and state our conclusion with respect thereto. unite themselves to an ecclesiastical body do so with an implied consent
to submit to the Church government and they are bound to submit to it.
Under the law of the Church as it stood when this chaplaincy was
created, no ecclesiastical qualifications were required in a candidate for The trial court appears to have been of the opinion that the new canon of
appointment to the office of chaplain; but as we have already stated, a 1918 cannot be given effect as regards the chaplaincy in question for the
new canon became effective in the Church in 1918 to the effect that, in reason that to do so would impair the obligation of the trust involved in
order to be appointed chaplain, the candidate must be a clerical, and that the acceptance by the Archbishop of the provisions for the establishment
in order to be a clerical, one must have taken the first tonsure, as a of the chaplaincy, with the result of impairing the obligation of a contract
prerequisite to which he must also be a bachelor who has begun the study in violation of our Organic Act. This idea is in our opinion fallacious. It is
of theology. It is admitted that the plaintiff in this case does not possess undeniable that under Spanish law an acclesiastical canon such as we are
these qualifications, and it is abvious that if the new canon is to be now considering could have been adopted regardless of its effect upon the
applied to the chaplaincy in question, the action of the Archbishop in foundation or the persons interested therein, and it cannot be admitted
refusing to appoint the plaintiff was correct and this court must recognize that an obligation which could be changed under Spanish law has become
the validity of his exclusion from the chaplaincy. immutable from the promulgation by Congress of the constitutional
provision forbidding the impairment of contracts by legislative Acts.
That the new canon is valid and applicable to candidates for chaplaincies Under said constitutional provision obligations are to be respected as they
already created is, in our opinion, obvious, since it is general in terms and stand, and it was not intended that, by virtue of this provision,
evidently intended to be applicable to all chaplains appointed in the obligations should be made more onerous to either party. If the
future. There is no reason discernible why the court should read into it an proposition maintained by the plaintiffs attorneys be true, then we are
confronted with the spectacle of a chaplaincy which is a perpetual therefore not enter into any discussion of this phase of the case, and shall
sinecure for a chaplain without ecclesiastical qualifications. Perpetuities content ourselves by observing that if those who are interested in
of any sort are objectionable, but one of this character would be conserving the income derived from the chaplaincy and in holding the
intolerable. As is justly said by the attorney for the appellant, "It is defendant responsible for alleged improper diversion of funds should see
unthinkable that qualifications for chaplains should remain stagnant and fit to proceed judicially in an independent proceeding, the action should
the same forever." In passing upon a question of this character the court be brought as a class-suit in behalf of all the descendants of Doa
is not at liberty to ignore the effects upon human society which would Petronila de Guzman, since under the present decision the minor plaintiff
result from adopting the proposition upon which the case for the plaintiff in this action has no particular title to relief.
here rests.
In paragraph (c) of the dispositive part of the appealed decision the trial
It follows from what has been said that the plaintiff has not the requisite court reserved to the plaintiff any legal rights that he may have with
qualifications for the office of chaplain and the defendant, the Roman reference to the cancellation of transfer certificate of title No. 17603, in a
Catholic Archbishop of Manila, acted within the limits of his proper proper proceeding before the fourth branch of the Court of First Instance
ecclesiastical authority in excluding the plaintiff from the chaplaincy in of Manila. The plaintiff did not appeal from this disposition, and the
question. The trial court was therefore in error in ordering the said appellant has not assigned error against said feature of the decision. We
defendant to appoint the plaintiff as chaplain of the chaplaincy founded shall therefore not interfere with the decision on this point, but we should
by Doa Petronila de Guzman. As corollary of this, there was also error perhaps observe that if relief should be sought in the direction indicated
on the part of the trial court in ordering the defendant to pay to the the contention will probably in the end resolve itself into the question
plaintiff, through his guardian ad litem, the amount awarded in whether the Torrens certificate of title now held by the defendant should
paragraph (b) of the dispositive part of the appealed decision. be annotated so as to show that the property covered by the certificate is
held by the defendant subject to the conditions stated in the documents
The appellants brief contains an elaborate discussion of the rights of the constituting the chaplaincy in question; and of course such proceeding
respective parties to the income of the property during the vacancy in the ought also to be brought as a class-suit.
office of chaplain, and of the extent of the rights of the plaintiff during the
time that he might occupy the chaplaincy, all on the supposition that The judgment appealed from is therefore reversed and the defendant, the
the right of the plaintiff to the office might be upheld by this court. But in Roman Catholic Archbishop of Manila, is hereby absolved from the
view of the fact that we are now to reverse the judgment in its principal complaint, without prejudice to the right of proper persons in interest to
features, with the result that the plaintiff will not be appointed chaplain, proceed for independent relief in either of the directions above indicated.
all discussion of his rights to the income, based on the supposition of his So ordered, without express pronouncement as to costs.
appointment to the chaplaincy, becomes in a measure academic. We shall