Crossing Parish Lines

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NuclearReceptor said:
I think there seems to be confusion over whether one can attend Mass outside of one’s territorial parish, or whether it somehow constitutes a less-than-ideal situation in the eyes of the Church somehow.

There doesn’t seem to be any sin involved in attending a parish outside of one’s postal code (is there?), so maybe it’s a “logistic” thing more so than “spiritual” thing?

But I also read (either this thread or the other thread) that we should go to our territorial parish…should implies not doing that is somehow “imperfect”…
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This isn’t about saying that attending another parish as a visitor is a sin—that’s exaggerating things.

A parish is a community.

Parish membership confers both rights and responsibilities. There are also rights and responsibilities of the pastor.

The Catholic Church simply does not operate on the principle of “we build a bunch of buildings and you just go to whatever one suits you.” Instead, the parish, as such, is an important and essential aspect of experiencing the universal Church.
 
We are free to attend any parish we wish. Most Bishops are fine with people getting in the database at non-territorial parishes. Most pastors will grant permission for their territorial parishioners to receive Baptism, Confirmation, Marriage and/or Holy Orders at another parish - and the person seeking the Sacrament will never even be involved. It is all done by the parish staff.

It is so sad that a parish would have “silos” of masses where only a certain demographic can attend 😦 The beauty of the Catholic Church is the universality that crosses lines of age and ethnicity and social status.
 
FrDavid96 said:
This isn’t about saying that attending another parish as a visitor is a sin—that’s exaggerating things.
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I don’t think people were thinking in terms of being out-of-towners…but locals who for one reason or another prefer 1 local parish over another local parish, even though one belongs only to one of them. Would that be deemed imperfect or illicit by the Church?
 
Cecilia_Dympna said:
Maybe things are just different in the US. It has never been a problem in the UK.
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In the US, it depends on the Diocese and/or pastor.

For example: in my Archdiocese, kids must be confirmed and receive first communion in the parish they live in (no exceptions). Their addresses are checked to make sure they belong to the parish. They do this to make sure they have proper statistics in case there is the need to close/merge additional parishes.

But one of the dioceses next to mine (where my parents live) doesn’t care about boundaries except for Communion for the Homebound.
 
NuclearReceptor said:
I don’t think people were thinking in terms of being out-of-towners…but locals who for one reason or another prefer 1 local parish over another local parish, even though one belongs only to one of them. Would that be deemed imperfect or illicit by the Church?
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That is not how the Church engages in pastoral care. It happens at the parish level.

People have rights and responsibilities with regard to their proper parishes. There are other canonical issues with regard to parish membership. The very fact that the staff needs to do extra paperwork when people seek (some) things outside their parish of membership is proof that this is not the way the Church envisions things to be done.

Choosing a parish is not like picking a restaurant (although some people seem to want that). The Catholic Church simply does not operate that way. We operate as parishes.
 
NuclearReceptor said:
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FrDavid96:
This isn’t about saying that attending another parish as a visitor is a sin—that’s exaggerating things.
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I don’t think people were thinking in terms of being out-of-towners…but locals who for one reason or another prefer 1 local parish over another local parish, even though one belongs only to one of them. Would that be deemed imperfect or illicit by the Church?
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It’s OK. You can attend mass at any parish you want. It’s not sinful.

The question becomes what happens for sacraments like Baptism, Marriage, First Communion, Confirmation, and things like: Communion for the Homebound, catholic school tuition, CCD, parish cemetery, Spiritual Direction, etc.?

In some dioceses/parishes: none of those things matter and in others they do. And when they don’t matter, will things change with a new priest.
 
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phil19034 said:
In the US, it depends on the Diocese and/or pastor.

For example: in my Archdiocese, kids must be confirmed and receive first communion in the parish they live in (no exceptions). Their addresses are checked to make sure they belong to the parish. They do this to make sure they have proper statistics in case there is the need to close/merge additional parishes.

But one of the dioceses next to mine (where my parents live) doesn’t care about boundaries except for Communion for the Homebound.
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They must care because parish boundaries are very relevant when it comes to other things like marriage.

The average Catholic might not see this on a day-by-day basis, but parishes are much more concerned with boundaries than one would expect based on comments posted on CAF.
 
Would a parish like the one described even offer CCD classes and a first communion service for a single child?
 
I think parish boundaries would be easier for people to swallow if attending your own parish didn’t mean sacrificing spiritual growth, good catechism for the kids (and adults!), solid advice in confession, etc, etc. Of course not an issue everywhere but nonetheless just the unfortunate reality of many parishes today. That’s why people shop around for a parish they “like” - if all were created equal, it wouldn’t be such an issue.

And not everyone wants or can take on the task of trying to change things. Those who do should be commended, but some people just want to attend a parish without abuses and where they get good formation, where they can grow spiritually and not have to play liturgical police all the time.
 
It is possible I am in my geographic parish. My section of the city was annexed about twenty years ago and may have come after the establishment of boundaries. If there could ever be a fuzzy zone, we are it; in one city politically, phone system in another.

I looked up the canon law and tried to find the part about the responsibility to support one’s geographic parish, as opposed the one in which one attends and is registered. I can’t find anything. It is no big deal to me. My diocese has not map available to the laity, I guess without going to the main office, and I may well be in my geographic parish anyway.
 
LisaB said:
And not everyone wants or can take on the task of trying to change things… where they can grow spiritually…
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I know there are exceptions to this, but sometimes the difficulties we face are how we grow spiritually, even though it can mean hard work. This should be considered in choosing a parish, as well in all we do.
 
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People are free to choose their Parish in my Diocese. Perhaps if you joined a Parish in another county you might get some questions?

I’ve never heard of anyone having issues. The larger Parishes weren’t happy with the small ethnic Parishes. But that’s all I’ve heard :man_shrugging:t2:
 
Canon Law is the same for every country. In your Diocese, you live inside the boundaries of a parish.

If you attend/sign up at another parish, the office is still doing all of the paperwork to keep you kosher.
 
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Whelp, it hasn’t stopped anyone from signing up across town.
 
I suppose if there aren’t a lot of practising Catholics in an area it’s hard to get a parish to thrive, its possible that the attitude of these parishioners may have turned other families off.

Raising Catholic children is no easy task, I might be prepared to make sacrifices for myself to support a struggling parish but wouldn’t take the risk if I had children.
 
Cecilia_Dympna said:
Could you respond to some of my other comments please? Rather than just saying it’s the law. Thank you.
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Nothing that you posted has any relevance with regard to parish membership.

Parish membership is how the Church defines it. Parish membership is not defined by your personal opinions.
 
Cruciferi said:
Whelp, it hasn’t stopped anyone from signing up across town.
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That’s because in your diocese the priests and the parish staff are doing everything behind the scenes to make sure your paperwork is in order.

Your bishop made the decision to make it easy on you and place additional burdens on the priests and parish staff (not knocking the bishop).

HOWEVER, it is POSSIBLE for a future Bishop to change things.
 
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I think there were disagreements over boundaries and parishioners in my Diocese. The larger Parishes versus the smaller ethnic ones… I never heard anymore. However, nobody I know has had any problems signing up with a Parish.

Most of the Parishes are within 3 miles or less of each other. Technically, if we’re going by distance I’d be attending Church about two blocks away. However, my family has been attending at least a mile away from home.
 
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