What is "trusteeism"

Trusteeism and the trustee system are practices and institutions within certain parishes of the Roman Catholic Church in the United States, under which laymen participate in the administration of Ecclesiastical Property. When laymen are among the trustees, the Church seeks agreement with the civil authorities to have the property administered under principles of canon law.

The Church often appoints deputies who are responsible to herself. Technically, such administrators, whether cleric or lay, are called the "fabric" of the Church ( Fabrica Ecclesiae).