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Theological teachings guide parish incorporation
By J.D. Long-García, jdlgarcia@catholicsun.org
April 17, 2008
Local Catholic leadership had a specific goal in mind when the diocese embarked on the comprehensive restructuring process of its parishes earlier this year.
“Christ came that we may be as one. He came to unite us to the Father,” said Fr. Fred Adamson, vicar general and moderator of the Curia. “With that in mind, even with the restructuring, it is important for the parishes in the diocese to be as one. It’s key to who we are.”
The Roman Catholic Church has long recognized that the process of uniting with one another and with God does not happen chaotically — according to the Church, that process must be ordered if it is to have proper effect.
In an effort to achieve that goal, diocesan leaders have turned to three ecclesial teachings to guide the restructuring process: the theology of communio, the principle of subsidiarity and the responsibility of stewardship.
Theology of communio
The theology of communio, which came to the fore during the Second Vatican Council, identifies the Church as a “communion of communions.”
As Pope John Paul II often recognized in his writings, communio can be found at every level of the Church. Each parish is a communion of Catholics; each diocese is a communion of parishes; and the universal Church is a communion of dioceses.
According to diocesan leaders, the restructuring process — which will separately incorporate each of the Phoenix Diocese’s parishes to align its civil organization with its canonical structure — will not disrupt the communal relationships that Catholics have with one another in any way.
“We will be many, but we will remain one,” Fr. Adamson said. “The new civil structure will allow parishes to do business separately, but it won’t change who we are as a Church.”
When the diocese files separate articles of incorporation for more than 90 parishes on July 1, each parish will be established as a non-profit corporation — with the pastor as its president. Once established, the parish corporation will begin to operate, under civil law, as an entity that will be recognized civilly as separate and distinct from the diocese.
As diocesan leaders have pointed out, however, the recognition of a parish’s separate identity is not a new concept. Under canon law, parishes have always been viewed as separate juridic persons, distinct in form and operation from that of the diocese.
As a practical matter, the civil incorporation of the diocese’s parishes should not change anything about how a parish operates day to day, or how a parish should be treated under the law. The new civil structure simply reinforces the canonical status of a parish as a separate juridic person, and it respects the canonical role of a pastor as the administrative head of the parish.
Diocesan leaders believe the new structure will enhance the practice of communio in the parishes and in the diocese as a whole.
“Communion must be cultivated and extended day by day and at every level in the structures of each church’s life,” John Paul II wrote in his 2000 apostolic letter Novo millennio inuente. “The theology and spirituality of communion encourage a fruitful dialogue between pastors and the faithful.”
As the late pontiff explained, it is the role of the pastor of a parish to unite the faithful and to lead them in considering “matters open to discussion.”
Today, those types of communications happen regularly at parish pastoral and finance council meetings, where pastors encourage the leaders of their parish communities to offer advice on matters that will affect their parish.
After the restructuring occurs, that consultation and dialogue will continue to take place, both at parish council meetings and at meetings conducted by the corporation’s board of directors.
Principle of subsidiarity
The principle of subsidiarity is a basic tenet of Church law. Under this principle, authorities at higher levels of the organization discern what responsibilities and tasks lower level authorities are capable of fulfilling, based on Church law and the particular definition of the given role of those lower level authorities.
This allocation of responsibilities can be seen at every level of the Church. The pope appoints a bishop to lead a particular diocese, just as a bishop appoints a certain priest to lead a particular parish, just as pastors appoint parishioners to lead particular ministries, according to each individual’s gifts and ability to fulfill their defined role.
By entrusting a pastor to care for the people of his parish, and by empowering a pastor to make certain decisions on behalf of his parish, the bishop is exercising the principle of subsidiarity.
“A parish has the freedom to meet the local needs of their area according to the gifts of the parish,” said Fr. Chris Fraser, judicial vicar and canon law expert.
“The diocesan bishop isn’t going to determine that one parish will have an outreach for the poor while another has a ministry for immigrants,” he said. “Each parish must evaluate its gifts and resources and reach out to the local community in ways it feels called.”
Further, while the pope retains ultimate authority over the bishop, the pope does not micromanage the bishop’s operation of the diocese — just as a bishop does not micromanage the pastor’s handling of his flock.
“The pastor is the key leader in the parish. The bishop is not to micromanage him,” Fr. Fraser said. “The bishop has to trust that the pastor knows what his parish needs.”
Thus, while Bishop Thomas J. Olmsted will sit on the board of directors of each parish corporation, diocesan leaders said that will not undermine the specific role that the pastor will play in the management of his parish. Nor will it undermine the role of lay Catholics in parish life — roles that are established by canon law.
“The Christian faithful are bound to follow with Christian obedience those things which the sacred pastors, inasmuch as they represent Christ, declare as teachers of the faith or establish as rulers of the Church,” Canon 212 states.
“Ultimately, the beauty of a properly functioning parish — and a properly functioning diocese — is that the laity and clergy come together, each performing separate tasks, but all working to further the mission of the Church,” diocesan attorney John Kelly said, “to build a place where the word of God can prosper and grow.”
“Our relationship is like the three persons of the Trinity,” Fr. Adamson said. “We are one holy, Catholic Church, but we are individuals called to live in union and communion.”
Responsibility of stewardship
By identifying the pastor as the president of the parish corporation and the chairman of the parish corporation board, the diocesan restructuring process will civilly recognize the leadership position of the pastor and the obligations of the pastor to care for the temporal goods of the parish — obligations that are already emphasized in canon law.
However, that responsibility of stewardship is not the pastor’s alone. The faithful of each parish are also called to accept the responsibility of stewardship by supporting their pastor.
Parishioners can do that by sharing their gifts in local ministries. Diocesan leaders cited the inclusion of two lay persons as consultative members of the corporate board of directors as a prime example of how important it is for laity to be involved in the management of the temporal affairs of a parish.
“How is the Church going to become the communion it’s meant to be if people don’t get involved?” Fr. Fraser said. “You get out of it what you put into it.”
Other ways to be involved in the Church are to sit on the parish’s finance or pastoral council, or on any one of the various committees that the parishes establish to help further its pastoral mission.
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