As We are always intent upon correcting anything which We find to be confused or imperfect, or removing it, and making clear what is obscure in Our legislation, We think that it is necessary for everything relating to the alienation of the property of the Church to be included in a single law, which shall replace and amend all others, supply what is lacking, and rescind what is superfluous. Leo, of pious memory, who, with the exception of Constantine, of all the Emperors, added more than anyone else to the Christian religion, and thoroughly established the honor and discipline of the holy churches, enacted a law concerning ecclesiastical alienations, which he, however, limited to the Principal Church of this Most Fortunate City. We applaud the greater portion of this law, because the worship of God is its principal object, but for the reason that it does not generally apply to all churches, We think that it requires amendment. An enactment on the same subject was also published by Anastasius, of pious memory, which, although it did not resemble the former one, is still restricted in its effect, for although it applies to places outside of Constantinople, it is still imperfect for the reason that it has reference only to the clergy and the diocese subject to the authority of the patriarch of this Royal and Most Fortunate City, but is not applicable to sees. The author of the law understood that it should be corrected, as he amended several portions of it, although he left others untouched, for which reason We decree that it shall hereafter be void as being imperfect and limited in scope, and not be included among laws generally as introducing anything that is of value to jurisprudence. Hence, We have corrected all these matters, and think that it is necessary for uniform legislation to be imposed upon all churches, hospitals, monasteries, asylums, infirmaries for the poor, and all other religious foundations; and We desire that the present law shall be an addition to that of Leo, of pious memory, of which We are going to enumerate in a few words such provisions as remain in force. It forbids the archbishop and patriarch of this Fortunate City or of the principal church of the same, as well as the steward, to sell, give, or alienate in any other way any of the immovable property belonging to the holy Principal Church of Constantinople, whether said property consists of buildings, land, serfs, rustic slaves, or grain furnished by the State (for these last items are regarded as immovable), and the law does not permit any transfer to be made by way of compensation, or under any other pretext; and it renders the purchaser liable to restore to the steward having charge of the property of the church whatever he has purchased, together with the profits of the same which he may have obtained since the alienation, and anything else which he may have acquired thereby, as well as to forfeit the purchase money, and it regards the transaction just as if it had never taken place. It also compels the steward who has failed in the discharge of his duty to pay over any profits which he has received from what belonged to the holy church, or to indemnify the latter for the losses which it may have sustained. And, in addition to this, he shall be deprived of his office of steward, and the law grants a right of action to the holy church not only against the stewards themselves, but also against their successors, whether the latter have made the alienation without the opposition of the bishop in office at the time, or of that of any of the other clergy, whether they were aware of it and consented, or remained silent and suffered it to take place, for they are much more reprehensible if they gave their consent, and knowingly permitted such a thing to be done without preventing it. It also punishes with perpetual exile the notary who drew up the documents, and refuses him clemency or permission to return; and any judges who consent to the alienation, and preside in cases of this kind, or who permit such donations or alienations to be made, it directs shall be deprived of their insignia, their offices, and their estates. Although this law strictly forbids the alienation of church property, it, nevertheless, allows the use of the same, which is called usufruct, for a certain time, or even during the life of the person who obtains it, when this is granted by the Most Holy Principal Church, under the restriction that the recipient of this favor shall give to the Most Holy Principal Church a certain portion of the property by way of compensation, from which the Most Holy Church can have the same income as he obtains from the use of said property; and, after the death of the usufructuary, or the expiration of the time prescribed for its enjoyment, the use and usufruct of the ecclesiastical property which has been granted shall revert to the Most Holy Principal Church, as well as the use and ownership of what was given by way of compensation. The law prescribes that a contract of this kind can be made without any risk. If, however, what has been given by way of compensation should happen to be less than what was transferred by the holy church, the law declares that the contract shall be void, just as if it had never been entered into, and it grants the right of recovery just as if the holy church had been defrauded.
  (1) These are, briefly stated, the provisions of the law, and where it imposes a fine, it only has reference to property belonging to the Most Holy Church of Constantinople; and while it disposes of all the fraudulent acts which We have mentioned, it still is not sufficient to restrain the efforts of persons intending to deceive. For, indeed, certain individuals have invented what is called leasehold titles, that is, where anyone received from the church a building whose value was, for instance, one hundred solidi, and which yielded an annual income of ten solidi, and he paid a hundred solidi more or less for the same, and agreed to pay every year out of his own property three solidi by way of rent, he was called parcecus; and, in consideration of this small payment, he became the possessor of the property, along with his heirs, in perpetuity. This right was not known to any of Our laws, or recognized by any emperor; and, by means of it, those who invented it could commit great frauds against the law, and make almost constant alienations, which We forbid to be done hereafter, and have promulgated the present law for this very purpose. Those having charge of the administration of the property of said church formerly had recourse to emphyteusis, and by this means, obtained the greater part of the revenues of the same. For this reason We, by means of one of Our preceding constitutions, have limited the duration of emphyteusis to the lives of three persons, that is to say, to that of the one who makes the contract, and his two immediate successors; and We permitted this to be done with reference to the property of the Most Holy Principal Church, but did not allow more than a sixth part of the income obtained under emphyteusis to be collected where unforeseen events occur. We have, however, learned that documents often have been impiously executed by certain persons under which a sixth part was left to the holy church, and all the rest of the property was given in emphyteusis. When Anastasius, of pious memory, decreed that rules should be drawn up with reference to emphyteutical alienations, in order that the time of possession might be determined, and decided that an irregular emphyteusis should last until the death of the emphyteuta, and that where it was regular, it should be perpetual, he enacted a law which was useless and imperfect in every respect, and which, as We have already stated, was only effective within the Patriarchal See of Constantinople.

  Hence We decree (for it is now time to come to the provisions of the law) that the Holy Principal Church of Our Most Fortunate City, or any of those which are subject to its jurisdiction, and are maintained by it (as provided by Anastasius, of pious memory), and any other churches in this Most Fortunate City, or within its confines, which are subject to the Patriarchal See, the archbishops of which obey its patriarch or any other patriarch or bishop (We refer to those who reside in the East, in Illyria, in Egypt, in Lycaonia, and in Lycia, together with those who are in the province of Africa, and all who are distributed throughout Our entire dominions, including the bishops of the West, from Rome even to the ocean, who have charge of the holy orthodox churches), as well as superintendents of hospitals, orphan asylums, infirmaries for the poor, abbots and abbesses of monasteries, and presidents of sacred colleges, shall not be permitted to alienate any immovable property, whether it consists of buildings, fields, gardens or anything of this kind, rustic slaves, and grain provided by the State, or deliver it under a special contract to creditors by way of pledge. We accept the term alienation in its general sense, and hence forbid the sale, donation, and exchange of property, as well as perpetual emphyteusis, which does not differ greatly from alienation. We forbid all ecclesiastics, everywhere, from making transfers of this kind under the penalties prescribed by the Constitution of Leo, of pious memory. We decree that this law shall be valid, and hereby ratify it, and, for this reason, We have proposed and proclaimed it, and have caused it to be written, not in Latin but in Greek, in order that it may become familiar to all, and its interpretation be facilitated. We leave any alienations which have already taken place in their present condition, for where so many documents have been executed for a long time, interference with them at present must result in much confusion. Hence, those which have existed up to this time shall remain in full force, but, for the future, We prohibit all alienations under the penalties previously imposed.

  In order that the laws based upon the instability of human nature and events which frequently occur may always remain unaltered (for how can anything be so permanent and immovable among men that it cannot suffer any change, when our entire life is in constant movement?), We have deemed it necessary to formulate some exceptions to the laws, which, being applied with reflection and care, may prove beneficial by preventing their operation.
  (1) Therefore We authorize the government, when it is for the common welfare and the general advantage of the State, to obtain possession of any immovable property belonging to churches, religious houses, or associations, where others of equal or even of greater value than what was received is transferred by way of compensation. What excuse can the Emperor have to avoid furnishing greater indemnity? For God has given him possession of enormous wealth, and has made him the ruler of many subjects, and has rendered it easy for him, above all, to give to the holy churches, towards which one cannot be too liberal. Wherefore, if such a thing should take place, the transfer shall be valid, provided it is preceded by a pragmatic sanction authorizing the government to transfer property in compensation, where compensation is provided by reason of the gift of better and more productive immovable property; and those who have charge of the religious establishments whose property is alienated, and the notaries who drew up the contracts, shall everywhere be exempt from blame, and shall not be apprehensive of the penalties prescribed by Leo, of pious memory, and which have been confirmed by Us, since the priesthood and the Empire differ greatly from one another, as sacred things do from those which are common and public, and the abundance enjoyed by the churches is continually derived from the munificence of the Emperors. Hence, where compensation is given by either party, neither can legally be blamed by anyone; but, on the other hand, We expressly prohibit every other sale, donation, exchange, or emphyteusis, whether made by the government or any other person whomsoever. Nor do We permit the donation of any real property by way of pledge for the purpose of securing a loan. We desire this law to be observed by every church, monastery, hospital, house of refuge, hermitage, convent, infirmary for the poor, and all other establishments founded under religious auspices, for no one can legally acquire any property from them. Therefore the constitution of Anastasius of divine memory shall hereafter be of no force or effect, and no law shall be enacted for the purpose of renewing it, nor shall its provisions be cited, as they are all hereby annulled.

  We authorize the Most Holy Principal Church, and all other religious foundations, to lease their property by emphyteusis, provided that the duration of the lease is limited to the life of the emphyteuta, and two of his heirs, that is to say, his children and grandchildren, both male and female; and the said property will revert either to the husband or the wife, if this has been expressly stated in the contract; otherwise, it will not pass to any other heirs, but will be confined solely to the lives of those who received it, when they have neither children nor grandchildren. We, by no means, allow real property belonging to churches or hospitals, or even rustic slaves or supplies of grain to be leased, and We do not permit an alienation made contrary to these provisions to have any force.
  (1) The Constitution of Leo, of pious memory, permitted ecclesiastical property to be leased by emphyteusis, where this was done without any loss, but We have decreed in another constitution promulgated by Us that a sixth part of the income should be given to him who took the emphyteusis; and thus We establish a certain rule of diminution, so that the rent of the property leased may be ascertained with truth and accuracy from the beginning, when it was acquired by the holy church and the emphyteusis was granted to the persons whom We have mentioned; for then We concede it to them, scrupulously reserving the sixth part of what they paid. Where, however, the amount is diminished through some accident, or the whole of it is lost, a new rate should be established for the person desiring to lease the property; or, indeed, none at all shall be made where it is decided to be more advantageous to lease it in some other way than to subject it to an excessive diminution of the rent under emphyteusis. When suburban ecclesiastical property is leased under emphyteusis — which We have ascertained is, in many instances, done in this Most Fortunate City at a high price — and it yields but very little rent, or even none at all, We do not wish the rental to be regulated by the income, but that a just appraisement shall be made of the land, adopting as a standard the income collected for twenty years, and that the rate under emphyteusis shall be based on this appraisement; but We repeat that this must not be done in perpetuity, but only during the lifetime of the person who receives the property, and that of two of his successors; but it will also be revertible to either the husband or the wife, as We have already stated.
  (2) It is proper that emphyteutas should be notified that if they do not pay the rent for two consecutive years (for the term of three years is established in the case of other emphyteutas, but We have decided two will be sufficient where ecclesiastical lands are leased), they shall be deprived of the emphyteusis, and the officials in charge of the religious houses shall be permitted to resume possession of them without being liable on account of any improvements which may have been made. But if the emphyteuta has caused any deterioration of the land or suburban property, he can be compelled to thoroughly restore it to its former condition, at his own expense; and he, together with his heirs, will be obliged to return the said property, with all the income from it which may be due, without delay. It has already been stated by Us that no alienation of real property belonging either to a church or a hospital can take place, and this prohibition has reference to every person in the Empire, and applies not only to houses, suburban lands, gardens, fields, and buildings ruined by fire, earthquakes, or any other calamity, as well as to such as are entirely destroyed and levelled with the ground, whether enough materials remain for their reconstruction or not, for We only permit them to be alienated by means of temporary emphyteusis, in accordance with what has already been stated, and to the three persons whom We have previously mentioned. In order that no fraud may be committed with reference to ecclesiastical property under such circumstances, an examination shall take place, when said property is in this city, in the presence of two master mechanics or architects, together with ecclesiastical stewards, five reverend priests, two deacons, and the bishop of the diocese; but where the property is situated in a province, this shall be done in the presence of two master mechanics or architects, or of one (if there are no more in the town), who shall assemble on the ground, and decide under oath on the Holy Gospels how much should be paid to the church under emphyteusis, and an emphyteutical contract may be drawn up in accordance with what has previously been prescribed. The emphyteuta can then erect buildings with the materials, if there are any, and transmit the emphyteusis to two of his successors (as has already been stated), and, after the death of the three persons aforesaid, the property shall revert to the holy church or the venerable religious house by whom the emphyteusis was executed ; and a contract of this kind shall be valid, provided it is not in contravention of the terms of the present law.
  (3) The various pretexts which have, up to the present time, been employed to prevent the termination of contracts of this description, shall no longer be permitted; and where the term of the two heirs has expired, permission is hereby given to those who succeed them to lease the property by emphyteusis; and they, in their turn, shall be allowed to transfer it to others. By resorting to such fraudulent methods, the consequence is that the emphyteusis always remains under the control of the same persons, and the church is deprived of its right to the property. Where anything of this kind takes place, the reverend stewards are not obliged to transfer the property to others after the death of the two heirs of the emphyteuta.

  If anyone should desire to enjoy the use or usufruct of property belonging to the Holy Principal Church, or to any other church whatsoever situated in Our dominions, or which belongs to a hospital, he can obtain it by observing the rules which have been already laid down, and by complying with the provisions of the Constitution of Leo, of pious memory, which requires that the usufructuary shall be a man of means, and the owner of land, and shall give to the holy church or the religious house, by way of compensation, some other property yielding at the same times a revenue of equal amount and of the same character. This should be done in order that, after the death of the usufructuary, the property belonging to the church or hospital may revert to it, together with the use which was bestowed, and may not be extended beyond the lifetime of the person who acquired it. On the other hand, the usufructuary shall, until his death or for the time agreed upon, enjoy the usufruct of the property which he is given by way of compensation, and after the termination of the usufruct, the ownership and the use of the two pieces of property aforesaid will absolutely belong to the holy church.

  This law shall, by all means, be observed with reference to the alienation of property belonging to churches or other religious foundations, in accordance with the terms of the Constitution of Leo of pious memory, and if it provides for nothing else, it still neglects nothing on this subject, and shall apply to all the provinces governed by Roman law and subject to the authority of the Catholic Church, and must be perpetually observed and executed by the patriarchs of every diocese as well as by the metropolitans, bishops, priests, stewards, abbots, and superintendents of hospitals, orphan asylums and all other similar religious institutions, and be maintained by them in all its force; and everyone is authorized to denounce those who violate it, or fail to observe its provisions. For anyone who does this is worthy of praise, as he does not merit the name of a false accuser who exposes any violation of the laws, for he performs a pious action and one which is beneficial to all religious houses. All judges throughout Our Empire, no matter what their rank, or whether they are in the civil or military service, shall see that this law is enforced; this especially applies to the most glorious praetorian prefects throughout all the dioceses, as well as to those invested with less important jurisdiction, who are designated spectabiles, for We include the Augustal proconsular and spectabile Counts and other officials of the East, and the magistrates who are inferior to them — that is, those of consular rank or the Governors of provinces — as well as the defenders of cities. All persons in civil, military and public employments are required to observe this Our law, for the promotion of the public welfare and the increase of the piety of the entire country; and those who violate it shall be liable to the penalties which We have previously enumerated. We hereby confirm whatever has been enacted in former chapters, or by Our predecessors, with reference to the leasing of ecclesiastical property, and it shall remain inviolate; nor shall any innovation take place with reference to this Our present Constitution, for We authorize the preservation of the provisions in other laws when they conform to this one which We have promulgated, as it has greater scope than that enacted by Leo of pious memory, and is sufficient to remove every pretext for the alienation of property belonging to the Church. Your Holiness, as well as those who may succeed you in the Pontifical See, will take measures to carry into effect the provisions which have been enacted by Us. May the Lord preserve you for many years, most Holy and Religious Father.