DECREE OF THE HOLY SOBOR [COUNCIL] OF THE RUSSIAN ORTHODOX CHURCH ON CHURCH PROPERTY AND FINANCES

24 August (6 September), 1918

Basic Propositions.

1. Property belonging to institutions of the Russian Orthodox Church constitutes its common property.

2. The supreme authority in the administration of ecclesiastical property belongs to the All-Russian Holy Church Sobor.

3. Individual ecclesiastical institutions holding property on a proprietary basis manage it in accordance with ecclesiastical regulations, the decisions of the All-Russian Church Sobor and the orders of the Supreme Ecclesiastical Authority, under the supervision of the latter.

4. Ecclesiastical regulations concerning church property and finances are published by the Holy Sobor of the Russian Orthodox Church and, by its authorization, the Supreme Ecclesiastical Authority within the limits of its discretionary rights.

5. The Holy Sobor of the Russian Orthodox Church conducts the management of church property and finance and performs its supervision through the institutions it establishes, which act on the basis of the particular statutes concerning them, confirmed by the Holy Sobor.

6. The Holy Sobor and the Supreme Ecclesiastical Authority, within the limits of their discretionary rights, may levy assessments on the properties and income of individual ecclesiastical institutions and establish other forms of levies and assessments for general church needs.

7. The determination of collections and other forms of assessments for church needs is also left to the individual ecclesiastical institutions within the limits of their assigned rights.

8. Moveable and immoveable property belonging to ecclesiastical institutions, including sums of cash, may be used only for purposes corresponding to the designation of the ecclesiastical institution which owns the property.

Note: The present article does not preclude the possibility of assessments for general church needs foreseen by article 6.

9. Funds allotted towards the needs of the Orthodox Church from the Government Treasury are expended according to their direct designation; bookkeeping and accountability for these amounts are conducted on the basis of existing general government regulations on the subject.

10. Those institutions specified in Article 5 present annual reports of church finances and property to the Supreme Ecclesiastical Authority; these reports are communicated as public information.

11. Reports on church finances and property between sobors are presented by the Supreme Ecclesiastical Authority for consideration by the All-Russian Holy Church Sobor.