Retirement provisions for priests in the diocese of Lublin in the 19th c.

Abstract

Upon undertaking their duties parish priests were guaranteed a living. The use of benefi ces was described in the 12th c. in Decretum Gratiani. The Polish Church also functioned on the basis of the benefi ce system, which gave priests means to support themselves. The potential of benefi ces was varied, depending on the priest’s function, the place, and the foundation linked with the place. Some produced a substantial income, allowing a lavish lifestyle and even accumulating large capitals, others yielded barely enough to make ends meet. Hardship awaited those clergymen who due to illness or old age could not continue their service and therefore lost the right to use their benefi ces. If they were not taken care of by relatives, they were forced to
retire to monasteries or find residence in parishes, and live on charity. Trying to prevent such situations, the Church worked out various forms of support for sick and old priests. On 5 Nov 1663 bishop Andrzej Trzebiński founded an invalid house in Lublin for priests in hardship. The institution was to be fi nanced by donations from the clergy and by inheritances from priests who died leaving no will and no heirs. The fund helped priests from the Lublin archdeaconry, and since 1805 from the Lublin diocese, until the mid-19th c., providing them with a dwelling place, covering the cost of living and medication, and paying for burials.
On 1 Apr 1835 the Government Commission for Home Affairs, Religious Affairs and Public Enlightenment issued a regulation that enabled paying government pensions to priests who had to retire due to old age or health problems. They applied to the bishop or the diocese administrator to relieve them from duty and present them to the Commission as candidates for the pension. The government required the bishop to draw up a list of priests qualifying for the payment in the following year at the end of each year; he was also obliged to inform the Commission immediately if any of them died. At the beginning of each year the Commission informed the bishop which priests would be granted the pension and how much they would be paid. Pensions were paid by province and district fi nance offi ces. In the years 1835-1914 in the Lublin
diocese government pensions were paid to up to several dozen priests (cf. table 1). Undoubtedly, the invalid priest fund, which functioned since the 17th c, and other forms of support, like the government pension in the 19th c., helped many priests in hardship to face old age and illness in decent conditions.