FOUNDATION PARA YA DIOCEZ YA OBALA

The Foundation Para ya diocez ya Obala is an AUTONOMOUS PIOUS FOUNDATION according to the terms of canon 1303, § 1 of The Code of Canon Law. It was recognized as such by the Decree N°003/SLBM/10/21/CME/PORTANT ÉRECTION DE LA FONDATION PIEUSE PARA YA DIOCEZ YA OBALA.

The Foundation para ya diocez ya Obala is a non-profit organization. It has a unique aim: to sustain parishes and other diocesan institutions that are found in the most disadvantaged and/or economically poor areas. This aid to the local Church of Obala is a financial and human backing in its struggle to efficiently satisfy the right of clerics to a sustenance that befits their condition according to the terms of canon 281, §§ 1-2.

In effect, above the communication of goods that exists at the level of the universal Church and in the various groupings of particular Churches (ecclesiastical province, ecclesiastical region, national episcopal conference), it is the duty of each local Church/diocese to create its goods, to administer them following the canonical rule (with a particular reference to canon 1284) so as to rightfully ensure the finalities of the temporal goods of the Church defined in canon 1254, § 2:

• The regulation of divine worship
• The provision of fitting support for the clergy and other ministers
• The carrying out of works of the sacred apostolate and of charity.

For the acquisition of the necessary financial and material resources, the legislator indicates inter alia:

Can. 1261, § 1. The faithful have the right to donate temporal goods for the benefit of the Church.

• 2. The diocesan bishop is bound to remind the faithful of the obligation mentioned in can. 222, § 1, and in an appropriate manner to urge it.

Can. 1262. The faithful are to give their support to the Church in response to appeals and in accordance with the norms laid down by the episcopal conference.

Apart from those means of acquisition of goods that would serve, among other things, to ensure a fitting sustenance to priests, the universal legislator recommends the pious foundations of canons 1303-1310. They are presented as the adequate means to canalize the voluntary contributions of Christ’s faithful. In effect, if « the faithful have the right to donate temporal goods for the benefit of the Church » (can. 1261, § 1), the Church must see to it that these goods be administered in the best possible manner. In addition, she has the duty to fructify what she has received, so as to reduce the appeals to the faithful. The pious foundation is the canonical institution that is best suited to guarantee such a vision.

A pious cause can limit itself to the direct and immediate use of goods according to the aim determined by the donor. But, in many cases, it will also be necessary to see to it that it be a long-term action. In order to ensure the perennity of a pious cause, it must be given a juridic configuration and stable means: the foundation.

The concept foundation whose etymology is fundos dare, indicates that at the origins of this institution there is the will in virtue of which a person or group of persons freely dispose of their economical goods for works of piety, for the apostolate or simply for spiritual or temporal charity. The finality of the pious foundation is the exercise of charity towards those in need or the practice of works of mercy.

The particularity of the foundations in the category of pious causes is found in their special character. The legislator defines them in canon 1303, § 1: In the law the term pious foundation comprises: 1° autonomous pious foundations, that is, aggregates of things destined for the purposes described in can. 114 §2, and established as juridical persons by the competent ecclesiastical authority. 2° non-autonomous pious foundations, that is, temporal goods given in any way to a public juridical person and carrying with them a long-term obligation, such period to be determined by particular law. The obligation is for the juridical person, from the annual income, to celebrate Masses, or to perform other determined ecclesiastical functions, or in some other way to fulfil the purposes mentioned in can. 114 §2.

Growing from the above definition of can. 1303, § 1 the Foundation para ya diocez ya Obala has one permanent aim, which is clearly spelt out in its Statutes and Decree of canonical erection: to sustain parishes and other diocesan institutions that are found in the most disadvantaged and/or economically poor areas. This aid will be carried out in the form of a financial help aiming at sustaining them towards financial autonomy by the implementation of activities geared towards self-reliance and the amelioration of the life conditions of clerics.

The pious foundations emanate and are regulated by ecclesiastical law. They can, all the same, acquire civil juridic personality following the dispositions of civil law of the various States and the conventions of international law that regulate the relations between the Church and the different States.

A Framework Agreement between the Holy See and the Republic of Cameroon, on the legal status of the catholic Church in Cameroon was ratified by both parties on the 13^th January 2014. It is a very concise framework agreement. It is made of only 09 articles preceded by a preamble. Two points are particularly spelt out or have a singular importance. Firstly, the republic of Cameroon recognizes the legal personality that the catholic Church and the Holy See possess inherently (can. 113, § 1). She also recognizes the legal personality of all legal entities that enjoy this quality in canon law at the time of entry into force of this Framework Agreement or who subsequently acquire it. Secondly, ecclesiastical legal persons may establish foundations whose activities, as regards their civil effects, will be governed by the laws and regulations in force in Cameroon.

The organization and the patrimony of the Foundation are clearly spelt out in its Statutes and Regulations.