Clarification on canon law and parishes

[Monica4316]

Hi,

Is it still in the canon law that a person must attend the parish where they live? Or has this changed?

thanks

 

[MarkThompson]

Hi,

Is it still in the canon law that a person must attend the parish where they live? Or has this changed?

thanks

If that was ever the law, which I’m not aware of, it is not now. You are in general a member of the parish where you live, but you can attend anywhere. This means that, for instance, the parish where you live ought to be keeping your sacramental records and the like, but for any given Sunday Mass you’re free to go anywhere. The main exception is for personal parishes, which are not territorial: these include ethnic parishes, certain military parishes (I think), and the occasional traditionalist parish.

 

[ConstantineTG]

Off the top of my head, you belong to the parish who’s geographical territory your place of residence belongs to. But you are not compelled to go to Mass to that parish. You can go to any Catholic parish you wish, even one belonging to another Rite. Parish registration has nothing to do with this, registration is just more of tracking regular attendees and giving you tax receipts for your contributions.

 

[FrDavid96]

Hi,

Is it still in the canon law that a person must attend the parish where they live? Or has this changed?

thanks

You can attend anywhere you wish. At the same time, you’re only a member of the parish where you live, because parishes are (by definition) geographical territories, not buildings.

As others have mentioned, personal parishes, like ethnic parishes are the exception.

There are times when canon law either requires that you go to (or through) your own pastor, or strongly recommends it.

 

[Maureen1125]

You are not “assigned” a parish based on where you live the way you are a school. You are free to attend wherever you feel the most welcome. If you are torn between 2 or even 3 parishes, you are welcome to rotate them or visit them as you wish until you find the one that fits you best and then Register as a parishioner there

 

[FrDavid96]

You are not “assigned” a parish based on where you live the way you are a school. You are free to attend wherever you feel the most welcome. If you are torn between 2 or even 3 parishes, you are welcome to rotate them or visit them as you wish until you find the one that fits you best and then Register as a parishioner there

That’s just not true. Parishes are geographic territories. A Catholic is only a member of the parish where he lives.
Yes, people can attend and visit any parish, but to be a member of a parish, one must actually reside in that parish territory.

 

[Maureen1125]

Fr. Dave - let me tell you…I double checked and I looked up on the web what my home is “zoned” for and I can tell you there is no church or religious affiliation posted. I am fortunate to live in an area where there are easily 12 parishes no more then 10min from my house. I am a regisitered parishioner of the church that I was raised in and where I still attend mass 4x a week. I will also tell you that I drive past 3 other churchs to get to MY parish.

Where exactly am I supposed to go to find out what church has been assigned to me and WHO do I address the letter to to express my disbelief that someone would be so arrogant as to chose a church for me based on what house I chose to purchase?

 

[thistle]

Hi,

Is it still in the canon law that a person must attend the parish where they live? Or has this changed?

thanks

You are not only allowed to attend any parish you want but you can also register with any parish you want. Some people even register with more than one parish.

 

[Sunbreak]

You can attend any parish you want. Registering depends. If it’s an ethnic parish you can register there even if you don’t live in the area. My parish of choice is an ethnic parish and I can tell you that if we only had people registered in the parish who lived in the area, there wouldn’t be enough people to have a parish at all. Out of approximately 250 registered families, only about a dozen actually live in the vicinity.

 

[MarkThompson]

Since nobody has posted it yet:
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.
So in general, a parish includes all the faithful in a certain territory. You’ll notice that nothing is said about the practice of “registration.” Registration is essentially meaningless. It is a modern novelty anyway, and is not even done at all in plenty of countries. Except for designated “personal parishes,” registration does not make you a “member” of a parish. Mostly, it helps the parish know where to mail the quarterly newsletter.

 

[Matthew_Holford]

Where exactly am I supposed to go to find out what church has been assigned to me …

If you do not know which parish you live in your diocesan office should be able to advise. If you live in Parish X you’re not obliged to go to Sunday Mass in Parish X’s parish church. You can go to any Catholic Church you want to go to. However, you do have a “proper parish” for certain things. Let’s say you have child to be baptised, this should happen your “proper parish”. If you were getting married you should get married in your “proper parish”. If your intended had a different “proper parish”, then it wold be OK to marry there. I believe if you don’t want to do these things in your “proper parish” you need your parish priest’s permission. I don’t think the Church ‘enforces’ these requirements.

I think the waters in USA are muddied a little in that you seem to have a practice of registering with a parish. This need not be the parish in whose territory you live. It is my understanding that you could even live in Parish X, be registered in Parish Y, and actually regularly attend Church in Parish Z.

I think the concept of having your proper parish goes back to when populations were less mobile. At one time it would be quite common for someone to be born in, live their whole life in, and die in the same parish.

 

[laszlo]

Where exactly am I supposed to go to find out what church has been assigned to me and WHO do I address the letter to to express my disbelief that someone would be so arrogant as to chose a church for me based on what house I chose to purchase?

Think about it on that way, that the Church provides you a pastor, who has obligation to care about your soul. You can chose a parish wherever, to attend masses there, but only the pastor of the parish where you belong have obligation to come to your house, if you are sick.

The other point of the territorial Church is the registration. Baptism, first communion, confirmation, matrimony should be registered, and the parish of your domicile is responsible for this registration. Except for the marriage the permission of the local pastor can be presumed to receive the sacrament elsewhere, but for marriage explicit permission is required. In any case the above sacraments had to be reported to the territorial parish, if received elsewhere.

 

[Monica4316]

thanks for the replies!

I don’t attend the parish nearest to me because unfortunately it’s very liberal and has liturgical abuse. So instead I go to the Cathedral or the FSSP parish. The FSSP parish is not territorial, people who go there are from all over the city, so maybe it’s an exception

 

[laszlo]

thanks for the replies!

I don’t attend the parish nearest to me because unfortunately it’s very liberal and has liturgical abuse. So instead I go to the Cathedral or the FSSP parish. The FSSP parish is not territorial, people who go there are from all over the city, so maybe it’s an exception

Even in the good old times you had obligation to support the Church, not your local parish. What you do it is legal. Still only your territorial pastor is responsible for you.
I attend a parish 12 miles apart, and I do not believe I have right to call them on my deathbed. I have the phone number of my territorial pastor glued to may computer to call in that case. This is my interest.

 

[Batfink]

Since the original question has already been answered…

Here in the UK we don’t have parish registration (nor in the other countries I have lived in), I have never heard of it except on CAF. We do, however, still have a universal obligation to get a dispensation from the parish in which we live if we want baptism, marriage etc. in a church other than our official domicile parish, as Matthew said.

I attend a Dominican parish which is 20 miles from my home; I am readily granted dispensation every time I need it. Visiting my ‘parish’ church 5 minutes from home to get the dispensations for such events is the only time I ever set foot in it. It depends a lot on the bishop too, some are more rigorous about supporting local pairshes and so will encourage people to have the major rite of passage sacraments celebrated locally. Others (such as mine) are keen to foster a sense of the universal church and (in view of priest shortages) co-operation between parishes, particularly within the same deanery. For example, we are encouraged to hold RCIA, ongoing adult formation and confirmation preparation on a cross-parish basis.

 

[puzzleannie]

That’s just not true. Parishes are geographic territories. A Catholic is only a member of the parish where he lives.
Yes, people can attend and visit any parish, but to be a member of a parish, one must actually reside in that parish territory.

True. furthermore, the pastor of your residential parish is the one who has formal canon law responsibility for your soul as far as sacraments are concerned, and who should be asked if you seek to celebrate first communion, confirmation, or marriage elsewhere. In many dioceses and parishes this distinction is observed loosely, if at all, and formally registering in another parish is enough to make you a member of that parish. Be aware that some pastors do adhere to this rule closely when it comes to things like support for Catholic school tuition or enrollment so it is best to ask what is the practice in your area.

For instance our two neighboring parishes are strict about parish boundaries and registration when it comes to CCD enrollment, because their space is severely limited due to ongoing building projects. We accept children and adults for CCD and RCIA classes from the entire city and school district (which is a big one) because we can accommodate them, and so that no one is delayed in their sacramental preparation. Our school however is regional and accepts anyone from any parish in the area (including some Mexican nationals, as do other Catholic schools in the Valley, they commute over the bridge every day).

Our St. Vincent is strict about boundaries when it comes to distributing food from the local Food Bank, because that secular organization has divided the various churches and organizations that distribute their food into regions so that people don’t “double dip”. however aid of other kinds is offered to anyone who asks, until funds run out, within guidelines, but a reserve is kept to assist our own parishioners in emergencies.

I cannot make it a rule that CCD students attend Mass in this parish, although I strongly recommend it, for one thing so that parents get the bulletin announcements, and in fact I give families a sheet with mass times of surrounding parishes so there is no excuse to miss Mass (but I would if I could). We are not allowed to use any system of tracking Mass attendance.

 

[FrDavid96]

True. furthermore, the pastor of your residential parish is the one who has formal canon law responsibility for your soul as far as sacraments are concerned, and who should be asked if you seek to celebrate first communion, confirmation, or marriage elsewhere. In many dioceses and parishes this distinction is observed loosely, if at all, and formally registering in another parish is enough to make you a member of that parish. Be aware that some pastors do adhere to this rule closely when it comes to things like support for Catholic school tuition or enrollment so it is best to ask what is the practice in your area.
…

You’re talking about “registering” in a parish. In canon law, there’s no such thing as parish registration, therefore any person might be registered at any parish, or no parish; it means nothing.

But when it comes to membership in a parish, that’s territorial. Registration has no bearing on membership.

Can. 107 §1. Through both domicile and quasi-domicile, each person acquires his or her pastor and ordinary.

The canons tell us that membership in a parish (or diocese) is determined by residence (domicile), not registration.

Registering at a parish where one does not have a residence (or part time residence), still does not make one a member of that parish.

 

[thistle]

Assuming the parish is territorial and a family (mine actually) have never attended the Church in that parish but have always attended Church in an adjacent parish (for over 25 years) which priest would we call in case of anointing of the sick or last rites? Our territorial parish Church does not know we exist whereas we are “registered” at the other one.

 

[Batfink]

You can call whomever you like for the annointing, this is not governed by what parish you are in. You would obviously consider the distances involved, age and health of the priest you’re calling out etc and think whether it would be reasonable for the priest at the church you attend to come to you. In my case it wouldn’t be as ‘our’ parish is 20 miles away so in an emergency I would just call the nearest priest, even though he isn’t personally known to me. It’s a matter of common sense and consideration for the efforts of others, not canon law.

 

[Digitonomy]

You’re talking about “registering” in a parish. In canon law, there’s no such thing as parish registration, therefore any person might be registered at any parish, or no parish; it means nothing.

But when it comes to membership in a parish, that’s territorial. Registration has no bearing on membership.

Can. 107 §1. Through both domicile and quasi-domicile, each person acquires his or her pastor and ordinary.

The canons tell us that membership in a parish (or diocese) is determined by residence (domicile), not registration.

Registering at a parish where one does not have a residence (or part time residence), still does not make one a member of that parish.

I understand the point you are making, but I think you’re stretching when you quibble over the use of the word “member.” Canon law never uses the phrases “member of a parish” or “membership in a parish.” By contrast, it does use the word “parishioners” and the phrase “members of the diocese.”

It could be argued that the phrase “members of the Christian faithful” in the relevant canons supports the idea that “member” is being used in the way you suggest. In the canons on parishes, the phrase “members of the Christian faithful” is frequently used. Based on the chapter of the code, these canons are generally referring to parish members by your definition. But I didn’t see any instances where it seems exclusionary of outsiders, in the way “members of the diocese” is. For instance, Canon 524 appears to be inclusive of parishioners at the priest’s previous parish, or any other outside laity who may have information useful to the process:

Can. 524 A diocesan bishop is to entrust a vacant parish to the one whom he considers suited to fulfill its parochial care, after weighing all the circumstances and without any favoritism. To make a judgment about suitability, he is to hear the vicar forane and conduct appropriate investigations, having heard certain presbyters and lay members of the Christian faithful, if it is warranted.

Moreover, “members of the Christian faithful” is used throughout the code to mean exactly what it appears to mean, not simply members of a parish.

In short, I think it’s fair to say that in most cases membership in a parish is strictly based on domicile. But it’s also fair to suggest that one can become a member in another sense by registration. Which sense of the word one chooses to use may be determined by the situation. The CIC doesn’t define the word “member” in relation to parish, it merely defines concepts that we may choose to label “member” or “membership.”