FACTS exercise of the functions of ownership carried on by the clerics for and on

behalf of the church which was regarded as the property owner.

On October 4 1954, Mateo Rodis, a Filipino citizen and resident of Davao
City, executed a Deed of Sale of a parcel of land in favor of the Petitioner A corporation sole consists of one person only, and his successors (who
Roman Catholic Apostolic Administrator of Davao Inc., a corporation sole will always be one at a time), in some particular station, who are
organized and existing in accordance with Philippine Laws, with Msgr. incorporated by law in order to give them some legal capacities and
Clovis Thibault, a Canadian citizen, as actual incumbent. When the Deed of advantages, particularly that of perpetuity, which in their natural persons
Sale was presented to the Respondent RD of Davao for registration, they they could not have had. In this sense, the king is a sole corporation; so is
required the Petitioner to submit an affidavit, declaring that 60% of its a bishop, or dens, distinct from their several chapters.
members were Filipino citizens.
That leaves no room for doubt that the bishops or archbishops, as the
As the RD had some doubts as to the registrability of the document, the case may be, as corporation's sole are merely administrators of the
matter was referred to the Petitioner Land Registration Commission (LRC) church properties that come to their possession, in which they hold in
for resolution. After hearing, a Resolution was rendered, holding that in trust for the church. It can also be said that while it is true that church
view of the provisions of Sec. 1 and Sec. 5 of Art. XIII of the Constitution, properties could be administered by a natural person, problems regarding
Petitioner was not qualified to acquire private lands in the Philippines, succession to said properties cannot be avoided to rise upon his death.
absent proof that at least 60% of the capital, property, or assets of the Through this legal fiction, however, church properties acquired by the
Petitioner was actually owned or controlled by Filipino citizens, there being incumbent of a corporation sole pass, by operation of law, upon his death
no question that the present incumbent, Msgr. Thibault, was a Canadian not his personal heirs but to his successor in office. It could be seen,
citizen. therefore, that a corporation sole is created not only to administer the
temporalities of the church or religious society where he belongs, but
Thus, Petitioner filed a Petition for Mandamus, alleging that under the
also to hold and transmit the same to his successor in said office. If the
Corporation Law and jurisprudence, the Deed of Sale executed by Rodis in
ownership or title to the properties do not pass to the administrators, who
favor of the Petitioner, is actually a Deed of Sale in favor of the Catholic
are the owners of church properties?
Church, which is qualified to acquire private agricultural lands, for the
establishment and maintenance of places of worship. Bouscaren and Elis, S.J., authorities on cannon law, on their treatise
comment:
ISSUE: WON the Petitioner, a corporation sole, may register the property
acquired In matters regarding property belonging to the Universal Church and to the
Apostolic See, the Supreme Pontiff exercises his office of supreme
RULING
administrator through the Roman Curia; in matters regarding other church
Yes. In solving the problem thus submitted to our consideration, We can property, through the administrators of the individual moral persons in the
say the following: A corporation sole is a special form of corporation Church according to that norms, laid down in the Code of Cannon Law. This
usually associated with the clergy. Conceived and introduced into the does not mean, however, that the Roman Pontiff is the owner of all the
common law by sheer necessity, this legal creation which was referred to church property; but merely that he is the supreme guardian
as "that unhappy freak of English law" was designed to facilitate the
We must therefore declare that although a branch of the Universal upon the rules, regulations, and discipline of the church concerned
Roman Catholic Apostolic Church, every Roman Catholic Church in represented by said corporation sole.
different countries, if it exercises its mission and is lawfully incorporated
If corporation sole can purchase and sell real estate for its church,
in accordance with the laws of the country where it is located, is
charitable, benevolent, or educational purposes, can they register said real
considered an entity or person with all the rights and privileges granted
properties? As provided by law, lands held in trust for specific purposes
to such artificial being under the laws of that country, separate and
may be subject of registration (section 69, Act 496), and the capacity of a
distinct from the personality of the Roman Pontiff or the Holy See,
corporation sole, like petitioner herein, to register lands belonging to it is
without prejudice to its religious relations with the latter which are
acknowledged, and title thereto may be issued in its name (Bishop of
governed by the Canon Law or their rules and regulations.
Nueva Segovia vs. Insular Government, 26 Phil. 300-1913). Indeed it is
The Corporation Law also contains the following provisions: absurd that while the corporations sole that might be in need of acquiring
lands for the erection of temples where the faithful can pray, or schools
SECTION 159. Any corporation sole may purchase and hold real estate
and cemeteries which they are expressly authorized by law to acquire in
and personal property for its church, charitable, benevolent, or
connection with the propagation of the Roman Catholic Apostolic faith or
educational purposes, and may receive bequests or gifts of such
in furtherance of their freedom of religion they could not register said
purposes. Such corporation may mortgage or sell real property held by it
properties in their name.
upon obtaining an order for that purpose from the Court of First Instance of
the province in which the property is situated; but before making the order As professor Javier J. Nepomuceno very well says "Man in his search for
proof must be made to the satisfaction of the Court that notice of the the immortal and imponderable, has, even before the dawn of recorded
application for leave to mortgage or sell has been given by publication or history, erected temples to the Unknown God, and there is no doubt that
otherwise in such manner and for such time as said Court or the Judge he will continue to do so for all time to come, as long as he continues
thereof may have directed, and that it is to the interest of the corporation 'imploring the aid of Divine Providence'" (Nepomuceno's Corporation Sole,
that leave to mortgage or sell must be made by petition, duly verified by VI Ateneo Law Journal, No. 1, p. 41, September, 1956).
the bishop, chief priest, or presiding elder acting as corporation sole, and
Under the circumstances of this case, We might safely state that even
may be opposed by any member of the religious denomination, society or
before the establishment of the Philippine Commonwealth and of the
church represented by the corporation sole: Provided, however, That in
Republic of the Philippines, every corporation sole then organized and
cases where the rules, regulations, and discipline of the religious
registered had by express provision of law the necessary power and
denomination, society or church concerned represented by such
qualification to purchase in its name private lands located in the territory
corporation sole regulate the methods of acquiring, holding, selling and
in which it exercised its functions or ministry and for which it was
mortgaging real estate and personal property, such rules, regulations,
created, independently of the nationality of its incumbent unique and
and discipline shall control and the intervention of the Courts shall not be
single member and head, the bishop of the dioceses. It can be also
necessary.
maintained without fear of being gainsaid that the Roman Catholic
It can, therefore, be noticed that the power of a corporation sole to Apostolic Church in the Philippines has no nationality and that the framers
purchase real property, like the power exercised in the case at bar, is not of the Constitution, as will be hereunder explained, did not have in mind
restricted although the power to sell or mortgage sometimes is, depending
the religious corporations sole when they provided that 60 per centum of
the capital thereof be owned by Filipino citizens. PETITION GRANTED.