MADURAI: A property acquired by a Catholic priest after entering a religious order and taking requisite vows cannot be treated as his individual asset merely because it stands in his name. Instead, it is vested in the religious institution concerned, the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court recently held.
A bench of justices N Anand Venkatesh and K K Ramakrishnan made the observation while allowing the appeals filed by ABVM Society of the Catholic Apostolate (Pallottines) in Karnataka, challenging the orders passed by the principal district judge, Karur, in September 2024.
The Karur court had rejected the society’s claim over six fixed deposits totalling Rs 56 lakh left by a deceased priest and had granted succession certificate in favour of his relatives—two brothers and a niece.
The judges observed that upon entering the religious order and becoming a Roman Catholic priest, the deceased, Rev Father Deivakumar Arulanantham, had completely renounced his worldly life and severed his relationship with his family.
“He became a follower and servant of Jesus Christ, and discharged his duties as a representative of the Church. So the assets acquired by him in the course of his religious service and the amounts derived therefrom were intended for the benefit of the religious institution and could not be treated as his personal or family property,” the bench said.
Moreover, the institution had borne his expenses till his death in 2018, it noted.