Wednesday, April 13, 2011

Pastoral Councils

Cleansing Fire has an article titled Pastoral Councils in the Diocese of Rochester. It brings up some relevant points, which I am not sure are applicable to our parish. From the article:

I was scanning through the Code of Canon Law the other day and came upon Canon 536, which happens to be the section of the code which describes the pastoral council. Here is what the Canon says, with my emphasis:


“Can. 536 §1 If, after consulting the council of priests, the diocesan Bishop considers it opportune, a pastoral council is to be established in each parish. In this council, which is presided over by the parish priest, Christ’s faithful, together with those who by virtue of their office are engaged in pastoral care in the parish, give their help in fostering pastoral action.”


The Canon states that the pastoral council is to be presided over by the “parish priest.” This got me to thinking. We have a large number of parishes in the diocese currently headed by lay pastoral administrators (16 parishes spanning several churches).

24 comments:

  1. This is definitely applicable to our parish and you know this as well as I. For years our parish Council has lived and died by the voice of the Pastoral Administrator. There is no Priest presiding and it is no secret that our beloved Priests have little to no power. Just another example of the abuse and misuse of authority. And look where this path has led us.

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  2. The pot has been stirred and the ball is in his court. What kind of a person thrives on dissent among the ranks? There have been so many chances to come clean and rethink this whole mess but he has chosen to be surrounded by the inner circle of supporters. So, let them get burned and then we can pick up the pieces, if there are any left, and move on. In the meantime we all have to do what's best for families and ourselves.

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  3. Was the decision to sell our church made at one of these council meetings? If it was, we may have recourse to Rome because the council was led by a layperson, not a priest as it is required to be.

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  4. I believe the decision was made at one of the Facilities Committee meetings, which were secret for three years.

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  5. But our pastoral administrator is an ordained deacon. Does that make a difference?

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  6. Gretchen: "Ordained Deacon" does not equal "Parish Priest". Not even close, never has, never will. Canon Law says "Priest" but we always manage to find a gray area (or rather, create one) in order to justify the muscle flexing of our P.A.

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  7. Just another example of why we need to get that canon lawyer hired to get this appeal rolling. I would like to suggest that if there are ten persons out there concerned and gather ten more and each give a contribution of 100.00 I would think that would take care of a lawyer. Or if everyone who wished to give got three persons to match their contribution, just think of the start we would have to accomplish the goal of saving the parish church of St.VdeP. And as was stated on another blog, such a contribution would be tax deductable.

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  8. That amount would only get our foot in the door; but its a great idea. We have heard figures anywhere from 17 to 30K for a canon lawyer. It will take some doing but I know that there are many many people who feel this same way.

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  9. Let's get all the people who refused to increase their sacrificial giving to donate to the Friends of Saint Vincent's fund. With less than 400 positive responses for the parish appeal, that would leave a huge majority who may be willing to make a donation. How do we connect with these people? I'm sure many are elderly and don't read this blog or have a clue what we hope to accomplish.

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  10. put a request for donations on facebook and ask people to pass it on!

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  11. for the older ones, start knocking on doors.

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  12. This whole thing still baffles me. Why, in the name of God, would our parish leadership not be kicking, screaming and fighting to save this beautiful Church? I get that Deacon Dean is not from the area and has no attachments but how can people who are, and do, support this decision? What am I missing?

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  13. I question the comment that contributions to the legal campaign would be tax deductable. The group would need to have 501(c)(3) tax exempt status with the IRS. Does your group have this?

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  14. 9:23, yes it is stated in the post titled, onward and upward. Read below.

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  15. The paperwork is being processed right now, and yes, Friends of St. Vincents is a 501(c)(3). We will be taking this to Rome. I promise that.

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  16. And this website will provide a full accounting for all monies donated? If so, how frequent will this information be provided?

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  17. The purpose of the website has always been to explore the issues in our parish, including the closing our our churches.

    As I understand it, the purpose of Friends of St. Vincent's is to take practical steps to raise funds for the legal fees associated with a canonical appeal, as well as supporting St. Vincent's as far as capital repairs and other charitable activities such as food drives, clothing for the poor, etc.

    I am told that as required by law, FOSV's financial information will be made available to the public.

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  18. How did you get a 501c3 so quickly? It takes months for this process.

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  19. It is my understanding that Friends of St. Vincent's has applied for 501(c)3 status.

    As Susan stated, the paperwork is in process. The time frame for these things varies widely depending on various factors, I am told. However, I believe that after final approval, donations made in the same year are tax deductible.

    That said, FOSV is not SOP. I am sure that much more information will be forthcoming soon. I will be happy to forward on any further questions to FOSV.

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  20. If the new Friends of Saint Vincent's group is not the same as the SOP group, who are they? I really am interested in sending a donation but am curious to know who is leading this great cause.

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  21. There are definitely some parishioners who are associated with SOP involved with FOSV. And then there are others. A newsletter will be going out soon. When things are firmed up, you all will be the first to know. :-) I think the parishioners who wish to see St. Vincent's saved for generations to come have been very open with all they are doing to preserve our parish church.

    So, really, the probing can stop. Now.

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  22. Gretchen, I know you want this to be a dead issue, but on the first page of your website, you ask for donations to the Saving Our Parish legal fund. If this is not correct, you should change it to reflect the correct entity. Also, if through this website you are solicitating for donations, I think questions can be asked, or probing as you state.

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  23. Yes, it should be Friends of St. Vincent's on the website. I am not the administrator of the website, but I passed along the heads up.

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  24. 10:37 Agree. It's if OK to ask questions about finances of the parish, it's OK to ask questions about finances for a new group that we know little about. I will support the effort to save Saint Vincent's but am looking forward to the newsletter to learn more details.

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