The ownership of Ecclesisatical Property in the United States was often an issue of controversy in the early years of the United States, particularly in regard to the Roman Catholic Church. In the United States the employment of lay trustees was customary in some parts of the country from a very early period. Dissensions sometimes arose with the ecclesiastical authorities, and the Holy See has intervened to restore peace. Pope Pius VII vindicated the rights of the Church as against the pretensions of the trustees, and Pope Gregory XVI declared: "We wish all to know that the office of trustees is entirely dependent upon the authority of the bishop, and that consequently the trustees can undertake nothing except with the approval of the ordinary."