Can I be a member of 2 different parishes?

[JackVk]

For most of my life I’ve gone to the Catholic parish closest to me, just down the street. I’m getting kinda bored with this parish and am considering looking at other ones. There is another parish that I’m interested in that’s a little farther away. I don’t dislike my current parish, I just want to experiment, meet new people, and learn more about my faith.

so here’s my question: If I want to be an official member of this other parish, will I no longer be a parishioner at my current one, which is much closer?

 

[DeepeningFaith]

For most of my life I’ve gone to the Catholic parish closest to me, just down the street. I’m getting kinda bored with this parish and am considering looking at other ones. There is another parish that I’m interested in that’s a little farther away. I don’t dislike my current parish, I just want to experiment, meet new people, and learn more about my faith.

so here’s my question: If I want to be an official member of this other parish, will I no longer be a parishioner at my current one, which is much closer?

I will not respond to your reasons beyond the fact that being “bored” to me is not a good reason. It’s like saying I’m not being “fed.” You don’t go to Mass for the Community, you go for the Sacrifice of our Lord!

So here’s ma answer to your question: NO. You can not actually remove yourself as a member from the Parish in which you belong. Parishes for the most part are territorial, meaning that everyone that lives in a certain area belongs to the parish. You can call the Diocesan Offices and see what territory you belong to. Many Parishes have registration but this is more for administrative matters. Canonically, you belong to a certain parish. The only way to belong to a different territorial Parish is to move. Really, there is no membership for a certain Parish.

Let me give you an example. When I was asked by the Vocations Director for the diocese “What Parish do you belong to?” I said “I belong to xxxxx Parish, but I go to yyyyy Parish.” Make sense? Now, it is up to the Pastor of the other Parish whether you will be permitted to take part in any liturgical ministries.

Hope this helps.

Pax!

 

[Love_Divine]

So, what if you live in two separate cities and have two separate addresses. (ie: post-secondary students who live away from home most of the year, but come home for the summer?)

 

[revert_jen]

So here’s ma answer to your question: NO. You can not actually remove yourself as a member from the Parish in which you belong. Parishes for the most part are territorial, meaning that everyone that lives in a certain area belongs to the parish.

My experience is directly contrary to this. When I first returned to the Church, I registered in the parish within whose boundaries I lived. I stayed at that parish a few years, but it was a real difficulty for me as the homilies had teachings that were contrary to the teachings of the Church, and there was a general atmosphere of “Let’s be as innovative as we can get away with” in the liturgy. In my diocese, thankfully, you can’t actually get away with much in the way of liturgical abuse, but the attitude itself was disquieting. Also, the music was, IMO, well executed but poorly chosen. As I was in the more traditional (not very) of the choirs, this affected me a lot.

So I went to a neighboring parish. After attending several times, I asked whether I could join. The pastor talked to me a little bit about why, and I submitted a letter to him requesting to join. I also sent a letter to my old parish informing them of the change, and now I am registered in a different parish. I believe it is theoretically possible for the pastor at the geographical parish to prevent you from changing to a new parish, but practically speaking, I can’t think of any reason why he would bother. And of course it would have been possible for the pastor at my new parish to refuse to allow me to join as well, and I believe if you live far-ish away it is more likely that that will happen. In my case, my new parish is actually slightly closer to where I live than the old one, but it is a smaller parish. Anyway, the change is recognized by the diocese as well, as they indicate your parish on the letter for the annual diocesan appeals, and the last letter came with my new parish on it.

I’m not sure you can actually get more official than that. If the diocese acknowledges that I can change parishes without moving, I think it is possible to change parishes without moving.

Let me give you an example. When I was asked by the Vocations Director for the diocese “What Parish do you belong to?” I said “I belong to xxxxx Parish, but I go to yyyyy Parish.” Make sense? Now, it is up to the Pastor of the other Parish whether you will be permitted to take part in any liturgical ministries.

Is it possible that the bishop has the decision whether whether it is possible to change parishes within the diocese or not? Perhaps it is different in your diocese. But if anyone from the diocesan offices asked me which parish I belonged to, I would tell them it was my new parish.

OTOH, there is absolutely nothing that prevents you (I’m talking to the OP now) from attending a parish every week that is not your own. You can join in various ministries (although possibly not all) without being registered at the new parish.

I do not believe it is possible to be registered in two parishes at the same time, however. The best person to ask for information that is 100% relevant to your situation is the pastor of the new parish you are attending. Theoretically, it would be best to ask your current pastor if you are sure it wouldn’t cause him any hurt or offense. But you can be sure that you wouldn’t cause any hurt feelings or anything if you ask the new pastor instead.

Just my :twocents:

–Jen

 

[revert_jen]

So, what if you live in two separate cities and have two separate addresses. (ie: post-secondary students who live away from home most of the year, but come home for the summer?)

I believe in this case you generally stay registered with the parish “at home” if you live on campus, but you might register with a local one if you have an apartment off-campus. My personal opinion is that a good rule of thumb is you register for a parish near the address you pay taxes and vote from. But that is just opinion, FWIW.

–Jen

 

[JackVk]

I will not respond to your reasons beyond the fact that being “bored” to me is not a good reason. It’s like saying I’m not being “fed.” You don’t go to Mass for the Community, you go for the Sacrifice of our Lord!

So here’s ma answer to your question: NO. You can not actually remove yourself as a member from the Parish in which you belong. Parishes for the most part are territorial, meaning that everyone that lives in a certain area belongs to the parish. You can call the Diocesan Offices and see what territory you belong to. Many Parishes have registration but this is more for administrative matters. Canonically, you belong to a certain parish. The only way to belong to a different territorial Parish is to move. Really, there is no membership for a certain Parish.

Let me give you an example. When I was asked by the Vocations Director for the diocese “What Parish do you belong to?” I said “I belong to xxxxx Parish, but I go to yyyyy Parish.” Make sense? Now, it is up to the Pastor of the other Parish whether you will be permitted to take part in any liturgical ministries.

Hope this helps.

Pax!

Okay, maybe “bored” wasn’t what I meant. I’m just saying I feel like I would learn more about my faith if I went to another parish. A friend of mine goes to several different Parishes, including the two I’m referring to here, but I don’t know which parish she is an official member of.

 

[FrDavid96]

So, what if you live in two separate cities and have two separate addresses. (ie: post-secondary students who live away from home most of the year, but come home for the summer?)

In a case like that, your permanent home is your proper parish because you have a residence there. Also, your temporary home is a quasi-domicile (churchspeak for a part-time resident) if you live there, or intend to live there for at least 3 months. You are also a parishioner of the parish where you have a quasi-domicile.

The only way to be a member of 2 different parishes is to have 2 different residences.

 

[choy]

For most of my life I’ve gone to the Catholic parish closest to me, just down the street. I’m getting kinda bored with this parish and am considering looking at other ones. There is another parish that I’m interested in that’s a little farther away. I don’t dislike my current parish, I just want to experiment, meet new people, and learn more about my faith.

so here’s my question: If I want to be an official member of this other parish, will I no longer be a parishioner at my current one, which is much closer?

it depends on how parishes get their membership. my co-teacher at our parish lives in another city and geographically belongs to another parish. but he goes to our parish and even volunteers there as a PREP teacher. same case with me in my previous address, where i was geographically closer to another parish and also its more convenient to take transit to that parish. but it was on the other side of the boundary so its in another city and geographically i belong to a parish thats within my own city. but i was registered there and go there and contribute there.

thats how it goes here in the Lower Mainland. i imagine each diocese or a Bishop’s Conference of each country would have a different policy

 

[ProVobis]

Let me give you an example. When I was asked by the Vocations Director for the diocese “What Parish do you belong to?” I said “I belong to xxxxx Parish, but I go to yyyyy Parish.” Make sense? Now, it is up to the Pastor of the other Parish whether you will be permitted to take part in any liturgical ministries.

I’ve never heard a pastor tell his congregation, “Unless you live within the specified boundaries of this parish, you can’t attend Mass here.”

What if you attend the EF that is a distance away?

 

[FrDavid96]

My experience is directly contrary to this. When I first returned to the Church, I registered in the parish within whose boundaries I lived. I stayed at that parish a few years, but it was a real difficulty for me as the homilies had teachings that were contrary to the teachings of the Church, and there was a general atmosphere of “Let’s be as innovative as we can get away with” in the liturgy. In my diocese, thankfully, you can’t actually get away with much in the way of liturgical abuse, but the attitude itself was disquieting. Also, the music was, IMO, well executed but poorly chosen. As I was in the more traditional (not very) of the choirs, this affected me a lot.

So I went to a neighboring parish. After attending several times, I asked whether I could join. The pastor talked to me a little bit about why, and I submitted a letter to him requesting to join. I also sent a letter to my old parish informing them of the change, and now I am registered in a different parish. I believe it is theoretically possible for the pastor at the geographical parish to prevent you from changing to a new parish, but practically speaking, I can’t think of any reason why he would bother. And of course it would have been possible for the pastor at my new parish to refuse to allow me to join as well, and I believe if you live far-ish away it is more likely that that will happen. In my case, my new parish is actually slightly closer to where I live than the old one, but it is a smaller parish. Anyway, the change is recognized by the diocese as well, as they indicate your parish on the letter for the annual diocesan appeals, and the last letter came with my new parish on it.

I’m not sure you can actually get more official than that. If the diocese acknowledges that I can change parishes without moving, I think it is possible to change parishes without moving.

Is it possible that the bishop has the decision whether whether it is possible to change parishes within the diocese or not? Perhaps it is different in your diocese. But if anyone from the diocesan offices asked me which parish I belonged to, I would tell them it was my new parish.

OTOH, there is absolutely nothing that prevents you (I’m talking to the OP now) from attending a parish every week that is not your own. You can join in various ministries (although possibly not all) without being registered at the new parish.

I do not believe it is possible to be registered in two parishes at the same time, however. The best person to ask for information that is 100% relevant to your situation is the pastor of the new parish you are attending. Theoretically, it would be best to ask your current pastor if you are sure it wouldn’t cause him any hurt or offense. But you can be sure that you wouldn’t cause any hurt feelings or anything if you ask the new pastor instead.

Just my :twocents:

–Jen

Jen,

This whole subject is clearly defined in canon law. Just because the pastor at the parish other than your own allowed you to “register” that doesn’t make you a parishioner. Parish registration means nothing when it comes right down to it. The letter from the diocese isn’t an indication of anything either because it’s nothing more than a computer-generated mailing that sends a letter to anyone on a list provided by the parish.

In your case, you aren’t a registered parishioner, you’re a registered-non-parishioner. Regardless of where you might have registered, you’re still a member of the parish where you live.

 

[JackVk]

I need to clarify, this other parish is still in the same town as me. It’s about a 5 minute drive, whereas my current parish is just down the street.

 

[FrDavid96]

it depends on how parishes get their membership. my co-teacher at our parish lives in another city and geographically belongs to another parish. but he goes to our parish and even volunteers there as a PREP teacher. same case with me in my previous address, where i was geographically closer to another parish and also its more convenient to take transit to that parish. but it was on the other side of the boundary so its in another city and geographically i belong to a parish thats within my own city. but i was registered there and go there and contribute there.

thats how it goes here in the Lower Mainland. i imagine each diocese or a Bishop’s Conference of each country would have a different policy

The policy is the same everywhere in the world. It’s canon law.

You can attend anywhere, volunteer anywhere, participate anywhere, contribute anywhere. You’re free to do all this, and I’m not trying to discourage anyone from that. But you’re only a parishioner of the place where you live.

 

[FrDavid96]

I need to clarify, this other parish is still in the same town as me. It’s about a 5 minute drive, whereas my current parish is just down the street.

Jack,
It doesn’t matter. Each parish has a defined territory, and you’re a parishioner of the place where you live regardless of which church might be closer–it’s not necessarily true that your closest parish is your own. Think of it this way, what state are you a resident of? If you live in northeast Kansas, you’re closer to Lincoln Nebraska than you are to Wichita, but that doesn’t make you a citizen of Nebraska; because you live on the Kansas side of the state line.

Let’s say you work in Nebraska, you shop there, all your friends live there, you recreate there, etc. Let’s even go so far as to say that you spend more hours everyday in Nebraska than you do in Kansas. None of this will change your state citizenship because when it comes right down to it, your house is in Kansas. Let’s take it one step further. Let’s say that you go to a county courthouse in Nebraska and you convince the clerk to allow you to register to vote in that Nebraska county. Does this make you a citizen there, or does it just mean that you registered improperly and the clerk made a mistake in accepting the application? Sure, it’s possible that no one will notice (I won’t mention an example of registering to vote in Chicago) but when someone does notice and when it does become an issue it will be a problem.

Agreed? The same thing applies to membership in a Catholic parish.

 

[Sailor_Kenshin]

For most of my life I’ve gone to the Catholic parish closest to me, just down the street. I’m getting kinda bored with this parish and am considering looking at other ones. There is another parish that I’m interested in that’s a little farther away. I don’t dislike my current parish, I just want to experiment, meet new people, and learn more about my faith.

so here’s my question: If I want to be an official member of this other parish, will I no longer be a parishioner at my current one, which is much closer?

I don’t know about that, but I go to three and maybe more different parishes. One’s the ‘official’ one where we took RCIA, one’s the first one that made me cry just to be in His presence, and the third’s the ‘bad-weather’ parish with the real parking lot.

We also like to visit different churches. Just 'cause.

 

[choy]

The policy is the same everywhere in the world. It’s canon law.

You can attend anywhere, volunteer anywhere, participate anywhere, contribute anywhere. You’re free to do all this, and I’m not trying to discourage anyone from that. But you’re only a parishioner of the place where you live.

i see
thanks Father

 

[FrDavid96]

i see
thanks Father

You’re welcome. But don’t just take my word for it. Here’s the canon

Can. 518 As a general rule a parish is to be territorial, that is, one which includes all the Christian faithful of a certain territory. When it is expedient, however, personal parishes are to be established determined by reason of the rite, language, or nationality of the Christian faithful of some territory, or even for some other reason.

Even a personal parish (which is usually an ethnic parish) still has a defined territory.

 

[choy]

You’re welcome. But don’t just take my word for it. Here’s the canon

Can. 518 As a general rule a parish is to be territorial, that is, one which includes all the Christian faithful of a certain territory. When it is expedient, however, personal parishes are to be established determined by reason of the rite, language, or nationality of the Christian faithful of some territory, or even for some other reason.

Even a personal parish (which is usually an ethnic parish) still has a defined territory.

oh, i can take your word for it
you’ve been one of the most reliable sources of information on these boards

 

[revert_jen]

Jen,

This whole subject is clearly defined in canon law. Just because the pastor at the parish other than your own allowed you to “register” that doesn’t make you a parishioner. Parish registration means nothing when it comes right down to it. The letter from the diocese isn’t an indication of anything either because it’s nothing more than a computer-generated mailing that sends a letter to anyone on a list provided by the parish.

In your case, you aren’t a registered parishioner, you’re a registered-non-parishioner. Regardless of where you might have registered, you’re still a member of the parish where you live.

Well, I bow to your greater knowledge of canon law, but there has so far been no discernable difference between being a registered non-parishioner and being a registered parishioner. And it’s a good thing, too, because otherwise people like myself who find themselves in a parish that hinders their spiritual growth (due certainly to faults of their own at least as much as faults of the parish), but who can’t afford to move, would just be stuck belonging nowhere, and would become less and less connected to the Church.

You seem to be implying, by putting “register” in quotes and by the way you wrote the voting analogy in your later post, one of two things: either that my current pastor did something wrong in allowing me to register in my new parish, or that somehow I bamboozled him.

For the first, well he is a priest too, and a very good one, and with very much respect for your priesthood as well, I’ll take his judgement of the matter over yours.

For the second, I attempted no deception, and there was no possibility of accidental confusion. I wouldn’t have had to ask permission to register if I had been within the boundaries of the parish, and I made it very clear that I wasn’t within those boundaries.

As for the letter from the diocese, it is a little more than that, as each person has an ID number on the letter, and my ID number did not change when I changed parishes. So someone had to go in to their computer and change the parish without changing my address.

–Jen

 

[JackVk]

Thanks for the answers, folks. I’m not really sure I was seriously considering changing parishes. Last week I went on the retreat called Kairos (anyone heard of it?) and it was run by the youth group at the “other” parish. It really changed my life, and I befriended everyone who went.

 

[choy]

Thanks for the answers, folks. I’m not really sure I was seriously considering changing parishes. Last week I went on the retreat called Kairos (anyone heard of it?) and it was run by the youth group at the “other” parish. It really changed my life, and I befriended everyone who went.

Jack, regardless what your official parish of membership is, there’s nothing that stops you from going to another parish for Mass. in fact, you can even go to another parish of another Catholic Rite if you want.