Services / Administrative recourse
Clergy & lay faithful
Recourse against Church decisions
When a bishop, vicar general or other Church authority issues a decision that harms you or your parish, canon law gives you a way to challenge it. But the deadlines are short and unforgiving.
Decisions that can be challenged
Most individual administrative acts (called singular decrees) can be the subject of recourse. Common examples include:
- Merging or suppressing a parish c. 515 §2
- Closing a church or relegating it to “profane use” c. 1222
- Removing or transferring a pastor cc. 1740–1752
- Removal from an ecclesiastical office or ministry
- Restrictions placed on a cleric or lay minister
- Decisions affecting associations of the faithful, schools or religious institutes
- Refusal of a request made to Church authority
The steps and the deadlines
Time limits are counted in useful days: days on which you knew of the decree and were able to act c. 201 §2. They are peremptory: once they pass, the right is lost.
| Step | Deadline | Details |
|---|---|---|
| Request for revocation or amendment | 10 useful days | A written request to the author of the decree, from legitimate notification c. 1734 §2 |
| The author responds | 30 days | Silence is treated as a refusal c. 1735 |
| Hierarchical recourse | 15 useful days | To the hierarchical superior. For a bishop’s decree, that is the competent dicastery of the Holy See c. 1737 §2 |
| Contentious-administrative recourse | 60 useful days | Before the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura, on the legality of the decision |
In some cases you can also ask that the decree be suspended while the recourse is pending cc. 1734 §1, 1736.
How I help
- Read the decree carefully and identify procedural and substantive flaws
- Confirm the deadlines that apply to you, and meet them
- Draft the request for revocation and the hierarchical recourse
- Request suspension of the decree where possible
- Gather supporting documents and evidence from parishioners or witnesses
- Advise on further recourse, and work with advocates admitted before the Apostolic Signatura where needed
Parish groups: when a parish is merged or a church is closed, parishioners often want to act together. I can advise a group on how to bring a recourse properly, including who has standing to bring it.
The clock may already be running
A free, confidential consultation will tell you where you stand and what to do next.