News for church legal entities New General Decree of the German Bishops' Conference on canons 1292, 1295, 1297 CIC
1. General information and overview
The General Decree was adopted on March 2, 2023, recognized on October 9, 2023, and has been published successively in the official gazettes of the German dioceses since 2024.
It came into force for all German dioceses on January 1, 2026, at the latest. The respective diocesan bishop could bring forward the date of entry into force for his diocese, but as far as can be seen, this did not happen for any diocese.
In many dioceses, publication did not take place until the end of 2025, presumably to avoid confusion with the regulations and value limits of Particular Norm No. 19, which were in force until then.
This general decree replaces Particular Norm No. 19, which previously applied to the territory of the German Bishops' Conference, and leads to a reorganization of the ecclesiastical supervisory approval requirements for disposals and disposal-like legal transactions concerning church assets under particular law.
For (Roman Catholic) ecclesiastical legal entities in Germany that are public legal entities under canon law – and, in exceptional cases, also for private legal entities under canon law that have expressly stipulated ecclesiastical asset supervision in their statutes, so that this general decree also applies to them – this means, among other things, that these new value limits will lead to changes in previous practice in ecclesiastical property law.
At least with regard to the upper limit, the so-called Rome limit, special regulations apply to religious orders in Germany, which the Dicastery for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life regulated by decree on August 4, 2025, Prot. N. Sp.R. 3320/2025.
As a result, the previous practice of this dicastery regarding the value limit above which additional permission from the Holy See is required for alienations by religious communities was maintained at EUR 5 million.
As before, a violation of the permission requirements under canon law on property also has a direct effect on the validity of legal transactions carried out under German secular law.
As a rule, if certain conditions are met, the prior permission of the diocesan bishop, who in turn requires the approval of the diocesan administrative council and the college of consultors, and, if necessary, the additional prior permission of the Holy See, is required.
Violation of a prior permission required under canon law on property leads to the nullity of this legal transaction both in canon law and in German secular law, unless the Holy See subsequently remedies this violation.
However, the General Decree also provides for the possibility of the diocesan asset management board and the college of consultors to issue advance approvals "for individual legal transactions requiring approval or for certain groups of legal transactions requiring approval" under certain conditions.
Measures relating to the investment and management of assets are exempt from the application of the General Decree if so-called qualified investment guidelines, which must be issued or approved by the competent diocesan bishop, are in place and complied with.
2. To whom does this new general decree apply?
The General Decree applies to public legal entities under canon law, in particular to
dioceses, bishoprics, cathedral chapters,
parishes and their associations,
legal entities at the parish level (e.g., church property and office property),
other public legal entities, regardless of whether they have had this status since their establishment or whether it was granted to them later.
Private legal entities are not covered, as their assets are not church assets (within the meaning of can. 1257 § 2 CIC). The General Decree does apply to these ecclesiastical legal entities in exceptional cases if this is provided for in the respective statutes.
3. When is ecclesiastical permission required and from whom?
The following require permission:
Disposals (e.g., sale, exchange, donation, transfer by way of security, granting of loans) and
transactions similar to disposals, i.e., any "legal transaction [...] that could worsen the financial situation" of the legal entity concerned (can. 1295 CIC),
regardless of whether the asset in question constitutes core assets or not, if the applicable lower limit is exceeded.
This clearly relativizes the CIC's distinction between core assets and freely disposable assets in terms of the requirement for permission in the case of alienations in particular legal practice.
If the lower limit is reached or exceeded, the prior permission of the respective diocesan bishop is required. If the upper limit, the so-called Rome limit, is exceeded, the prior permission of the Holy See is also required.
4. New value limits in this general decree
a) Lower limit
Basic: EUR 250,000
Can be increased by the respective diocesan bishop – depending on the size of the diocese – to up to EUR 2 million.
b) Upper limit
Differentiated for the first time according to diocese size:
Number of Catholics: up to 500,000 Upper limit: EUR 10 million
Number of Catholics: 500,001 to 1 million Upper limit: EUR 15 million
Number of Catholics: 1–1.5 million Upper limit: EUR 20 million
5. Special regulations for religious orders
Despite the new specific regulations issued by the German Bishops' Conference in this general decree, the Rome limit for religious orders in the Federal Republic of Germany remains uniformly at EUR 5 million due to the aforementioned decree of the Dicastery for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life dated August 4, 2025.
However, the additional special features of property law for religious orders must continue to be observed, as set out in the CIC, the internal law of the respective religious order, and the guidelines of the Apostolic See (2014) and its guidance document "Economy in the Service of Charism and Mission" (2018).
6. Consequences of failure to obtain approval from the respective ecclesiastical authority
A legal transaction (sale or sale-like transaction) concluded without the necessary timely ecclesiastical permission is
canonically invalid and
also invalid under civil law in the German secular legal system (initially pending, later possibly final) and
can only be remedied retrospectively by the Holy See.
Both the unapplied for, the refused, and the subsequently undertaken remedy of the lack of permission by the Holy See has an effect beyond the canonical legal system directly on the fate of the civil law transaction concerned, i.e., also on the civil law obligation and/or disposition transaction.
If it is (or has become) void, it can only be effectively rectified. It may have to be reversed – with all the unpleasant consequences that entails.
7. Special case groups from the General Decree
a) Construction projects
Assessment basis: gross construction costs according to cost estimate
Value limits apply to the entire project, not to individual contracts
There is also the possibility of general diocesan prior approvals
b) Rental and leasing Contracts relating to church property for rental and leasing (can. 1297 CIC) are subject to approval if they
are open-ended or
have a term of 10 years or more
and in both cases exceed the rent or lease amount set by the diocesan bishop.
c) Investment and management of assets on the basis of qualified investment guidelines The General Decree does not apply to the investment and management of assets if
qualified investment guidelines exist in individual cases,
these have been issued or approved by the diocesan bishop and
they are actually complied with.
The requirements for such qualified investment guidelines and their effects are high and must generally correspond to the contents of the recommendation section of this General Decree (with regulations on risk-bearing capacity, due diligence, risk structure and its monitoring, and organizational structure).
It is advisable to coordinate these in advance with the respective (arch)diocese at the draft stage.
8. What ecclesiastical legal entities can and should do now
If unclear, clarify your own canonical status
Review statutes and internal processes
Clarify individual value limits that apply to your own diocese
Align asset management with qualified investment guidelines and obtain approval for this from the diocesan bishop
Adapt committee structures and responsibilities
Always check ongoing or planned legal transactions for approval requirements before they are carried out
Status: March 5, 2026