ABSTRACT

Insolvency and bankruptcy procedures in general constitute a fundamental tool for the protection of creditors and the management of insolvency situations of legal entities. Nevertheless, in case of ecclesiastical corporations, many questions arise regarding the way in which they operate, particularly about the distinction between assets functional to the activities of religion and worship and those related to other activities, including entrepreneurial activities. The separation between structural and “other” resources for enforcement purposes seems to lack normative underpinning and is left to strictly legal judgements. Specifically in the case of activities organized in the form of a company, the borderline between profit and public utility is becoming increasingly thin. The absence of specific legal norms that provide precise definition criteria creates a legal vacuum that it would be appropriate to fill through bi-lateral synergies at various levels, in order to combine respect for the guarantees of creditors and the specificity of ecclesiastical entities.