Article on the organization of individual Catholic churches?

[normdplume]

Hi. I was wondering if someone can point me to an article describing the hierarchy/roles within individual churches. One key question I have is whether a church can have more than one priest, and if so, is there a hierarchy among them? I’d also like to study all of the roles at a typical church and how many of each there are.

Thanks
Norm

 

[HopkinsReb]

Not an article, but a church can absolutely have multiple priests. It’s quite common. Just one pastor, as I understand it.

 

[Tis_Bearself]

A Roman Catholic parish church generally has a “pastor” who is the head priest in charge. In some cases the pastor is the only priest, such as if the diocese has a priest shortage and/or the parish is small. If the bishop chooses to assign a second priest to that parish, the second priest will nowadays be called a “parochial vicar”. There can be only one pastor per parish, but there can be multiple parochial vicars, with the one who was appointed first being the most senior.

Some years ago the parochial vicars were called “assistant pastors” or “associate pastors” and some churches might still use this wording, but the current Code of Canon Law uses the term “parochial vicar”, so it’s more correct for churches to follow the Code wording.

In addition to the pastor and the parochial vicar(s), there can be other priests living at a parish rectory who are called “in residence”. In some cases they are retired but still willing and able to help out with some priestly duties; in other cases they are living at the rectory while they primarily serve as priests at a local facility (like a college or a prison).

There can also be “visiting priests” who are usually in the area just temporarily for some reason, such as to get medical care, improve their English language skills, attend school etc and they live at a parish rectory and help out with some priestly duties while there, for example hearing confessions or saying some Masses.

 

[normdplume]

Thank you. That’s very helpful. More than I could find on Google. Do you know if major churches (e.g., cathedrals, basilicas, etc.) have parish priests as well, or are they managed differently than a typical parish?

Thanks

 

[twf]

Some of this will vary by region / local custom, but in North America it is customary for the head priest of a cathedral to be called the Rector. He basically acts as the parish pastor for the cathedral, but the bishop himself is technically the pastor of his cathedral.

Some prestigious cathedrals / basilicas are led by an archpriest, which is an archaic and more prestigious title but essentially equivalent to a Rector. (In the case of the major basilicas in Rome, the archpriests are actually bishops and cardinals to boot). European cathedrals will also have canons, who are special senior priests associated with the cathedral with certain privileges and duties… such as electing their bishop (subject to approval by Rome) in some dioceses.

 

[Tis_Bearself]

twf is correct. The only thing I’ve noticed about Rectors is that in some cases, again likely due to a priest shortage, the Rector can also be the pastor of another church. I was at a cathedral yesterday and noticed that the rector there was Father X who I know is also the current pastor of St. Y parish.

 

[normdplume]

Thank you for the details.

 

[commenter]

Thank you. That’s very helpful. More than I could find on Google. Do you know if major churches (e.g., cathedrals, basilicas, etc.) have parish priests as well, or are they managed differently than a typical parish?

Thanks

A cathedral is under the bishop. That’s where he has his “chair”.
He might appoint a rector for most duties.
A basilica or shrine may also be a parish. But it might also be just a basilica or shrine, for instance. In that case it would not have a pastor, maybe a rector.

Essentially churches are either parishes, which follow one set of rules, or something else.

A non parish church might be a religious house, attached to a convent
Or monastery. Then it is under some other designated chaplain or the priest in charge of that friary or religious house. It could be a chapel attached to a college, hospital, or something. Then there is a chaplain, designated by bishop, though perhaps also under institution authority.