Do You Attend Mass at Your Terroritorial Parish or Even Within Your Diocese?

[Brendan]

I

On the other hand, I really have no right to impose a burden that Holy Mother Church has NOT imposed. In recent years, many bishops, including ours, have lifted the requirement to attend a territorial parish, and this means that converts and cradles are both free to attend the parish of their choice. So there is no disobedience when a Catholic (convert or cradle) decides to attend a different parish than their territorial parish…

Just to be clear, the faithful have had the right to attend a personal parish since the 1917 Code of Canon Law. And even that was simply a codification of the establishment of ethnic parishes that occured in the previous century.

So there has never really been an ‘requirement to attend a territorial parish’.

 

[rawt]

I was wondering if someone could help me out.

I recently relocated to an area that’s very culturally/ethnically diverse and the geographical parish that I’m located in is geared more towards Spanish and Filipino members as in having services in those languages and specific ministries for those groups (I’m Caucasian for what it’s worth). I’m trying to decide where to “register.” I would like to marry my Fiance but from **what I understand is that I have to register at my geographical parish in order to receive the sacrament of matrimony? Is this correct? ** I’m in the Diocese of Oakland, California if that matters at all. We’ve been engaged for a few years, I’ve been lapsed in my attendance and both of us would like to get on the right track as in actively participating (but the geographical parish really doesn’t have anything available for me to participate in) plus now that we’re out of college we’d like to get married. Any advice is appreciated!

Edit to add: If you do state that I must receive the sacrament of matrimony at my territorial parish even if I were able to register elsewhere, can you point me to the Canon Law reference? Thanks!

 

[Vico]

I was wondering if someone could help me out.

I recently relocated to an area that’s very culturally/ethnically diverse and the geographical parish that I’m located in is geared more towards Spanish and Filipino members as in having services in those languages and specific ministries for those groups (I’m Caucasian for what it’s worth). I’m trying to decide where to “register.” I would like to marry my Fiance but from **what I understand is that I have to register at my geographical parish in order to receive the sacrament of matrimony? Is this correct? ** I’m in the Diocese of Oakland, California if that matters at all. We’ve been engaged for a few years, I’ve been lapsed in my attendance and both of us would like to get on the right track as in actively participating (but the geographical parish really doesn’t have anything available for me to participate in) plus now that we’re out of college we’d like to get married. Any advice is appreciated!

Edit to add: If you do state that I must receive the sacrament of matrimony at my territorial parish even if I were able to register elsewhere, can you point me to the Canon Law reference? Thanks!

First establish a domicile or quasi-domicile or residence of at least one month, in a territorial parish.

The pastor of the parish where you want to be married has to request permission from the proper pastor to have a licit celebration. (Can. 1115) It can be the proper pastor of either to be married, unless one is eastern Catholic, which has the pastor of the groom witness.

Domicile – obtained in a parish or a diocese by establishing a residence there with the intention of remaining there permanently unless called away, or by actually living in a place for five complete years.

Quasi-domicile – obtained by moving to a place and establishing a residence there with the intention of remaining there for at least three months unless called away, or by actually remaining in a place for three complete months.
Can. 1115 Marriages are to be celebrated in the parish in which either of the contracting parties has a domicile or a quasi-domicile or a month’s residence or, if there is question of vagi, in the parish in which they are actually residing. With the permission of the proper Ordinary or the proper parish priest, marriages may be celebrated elsewhere.

 

[KellyPalmer]

Where did you or your children receive your sacraments? My children have only received the sacrament of baptism. Two received it on the base chapel by the priest on my dh’s last ship. The third received it at our home parish which is not the closest parish to our home.

***Where do you plan on receiving your sacraments in the future? *** Our home parish. It’s one city over from our town…about 15 minutes away. Our Diocese covers a huge area so yeah, we are within that. I don’t know how many hours away I’d have to drive to cross into another Diocese.

Do you consider your territorial parish to be your faith community? No. I do not attend the Catholic church that is less than a mile from my home. They are an usual parish and I have heard enough about them to scare me off from trying (called once and got a not-very-nice response, a previous rogue priest who used profanity in Mass, they are founded on having “home church” where you meet in small groups in people’s homes for Mass, they call themselves “progressive”, their motto is about tithing, etc).

 

[DarkLight]

There’s one parish 2 miles in one direction, and 2 more 3 miles in two different directions. Which one is my territorial parish? I have no idea.

 

[Sunbreak]

To answer the poster’s questions,
I received my sacraments as a child in another state far away from where I am now. In the future, I will receive sacraments at my parish of choice, which is not my territorial parish. My parish of choice is a small ethnic parish where I am acquainted with quite a few people. I do not go to either of the parishes in my immediate vicinity and I don’t even know which of the two is my territorial parish. I asked one of them once and they didn’t know what the parish boundaries were.

 

[benjammin]

For me it’s complicated. I live in an area with two towns about 4 miles apart, both of which have about 100 people and each with a catholic church. Both churches share a priest. Anyway, some people consider one church a mission of the other, however both churches have their own church councils and altar societies, but share a KC council. Anyway, i live within the boundaries of one of these parishes but attend mass in the other since it is at 10 and I don’t like waking up early for the 8:00 am mass at my geographic parish. Both are about 5 minutes from my house, so it isn’t a big deal

 

[TrueLight]

There’s one parish 2 miles in one direction, and 2 more 3 miles in two different directions. Which one is my territorial parish? I have no idea.

If you call your diocese office, they will be able to tell you.

 

[Phemie]

I attend Mass at my territorial parish - not much choice, the closest parish is 26 km away and if there’s no Mass at my parish that means that one doesn’t have Mass either (their Pastor lives in our rectory and replaces when our Pastor is away). The next closest is 600 km away.

Over the years that has varied. As a military dependent, my parish was part of the Military Ordinariate. In the early years of our marriage, when we had no car and lived off the Base, I usually attended the church that was closest to our apartment, which wasn’t the Base Chapel.

For the rest of DH’s military career we lived on Base and, except for the last two postings, the children and I attended the Base Chapel. Our second to last posting was to a city with a Francophone Catholic Community (we had a chaplain but were too few to qualify for parish status). That’s where we attended Mass most of the time and that’s the community we supported financially. Our last posting was to a Base where there was no Catholic Chaplain so we had to attend the territorial parish and that’s still where we are now after buying a home in the area.

We went home to the parish where I grew up to have our first two children baptized by the priest who had officiated at our wedding – it never occurred to me that I needed permission for that and he certainly never indicated any such thing. The third was baptized at the Base chapel where we were posted – it was too far & expensive to go home.

As for the other sacraments,
DD - First Communion on the Base; Confirmation at the Francophone Catholic Community
DS1 - First Communion at the parish associated with his school; Confirmation at the Francophone Catholic Community
DS2 - First Communion on Base; Confirmation at the territorial parish where we now live.

 

[anp1215]

I sometimes attend Sunday Mass at the parish I work at (I work at the school) if my husband is with me because he prefers that parish. That is the parish where I made my sacraments. We used to live closer to it. We moved but I continued RCIA and made my sacraments there because I was almost finished. That parish feels more like “home” because we were more involved there and know more people there, and I work there.

If I am alone, I attend Sunday Mass at my territorial parish because it is only 1 1/2 miles from me. I wish I could walk there. I attempted to do that this morning but the roads are too hazardous. No shoulder or sidewalk to walk on. Just a road and a ditch. Shame because I would like to have the exercise and enjoy a nice walk.

 

[Cider]

I wish I had the EF available at the territorial parish, since I don’t I attend mass at another church in my diocese which is a 30 mile drive. As far as sacraments, I was received into the church at the only parish in my diocese that has mass in the EF and no it wasn’t my territorial parish although it was closer than my current parish.

 

[anp1215]

I think that the “concept” of the “territorial parish” is so very very good, and IMO, it’s too bad that we have become “global” and therefore feel no loyalty to our territorial parish.

A territorial parish is a “neighborhood” of people who all live fairly close to each other geographically, or at least live in the same section of the city with the same type of incomes, architectures, crime rates, etc.

In the past, when people weren’t “global,” and most people stayed home most of the time (even their children played ball in the vacant lot, not at a “park district sports core”), the neighbors in each neighborhood got to know each other, and did things together–school, shopping at the grocery store, recreation, block parties, home parties, talking over the back fence (if there was a fence), getting the kids together to play, fixing up the homes of shut-ins in their neighborhood, etc.

I remember these times, and they were really good times. I mourn the passing of the “neighborhoods.”

I think the “global” mindset has hurt the Catholic Church, and I think that those who eschew their territorial parish need to carefully and prayerfully consider the possibility that they might be practicing a kind of religion commonly seen in evangelical Protestantism, in which the focus is on “me, myself, and I”, or actually, on “my family,” which makes it sound more spiritual.

In this kind of “personal” religion, people go to church “to be fed,” not to be part of a community of fellow Christians and to get involved with serving them and all serving Christ together.

They do not easily “submit” to any authority other than self, and they find ways to get out of obeying church authority; e.g., “that doesn’t meet my needs,” or for many Protestants, “I interpret the Bible differently.”

Among Catholics, what I’ve seen is that people say things like, “my territorial parish is so liberal,” or “there are no young families (or whatever demographic group you belong to) at my territorial parish,” or the biggie that I see on CAF: “my territorial parish priests allow so many liturgical abuses in the Mass.”

Ah,well, I’m just a fuddie duddie, I guess, and those romantic times when every Catholic in the neighborhood attended the same parish are gone with the wind.

My husband and I attend our territorial parish, which is down the block from our house.

As a convert, I agree.

 

[Vico]

I attend Mass at my territorial parish - not much choice, the closest parish is 26 km away and if there’s no Mass at my parish that means that one doesn’t have Mass either (their Pastor lives in our rectory and replaces when our Pastor is away). The next closest is 600 km away.

Over the years that has varied. As a military dependent, my parish was part of the Military Ordinariate. In the early years of our marriage, when we had no car and lived off the Base, I usually attended the church that was closest to our apartment, which wasn’t the Base Chapel.

For the rest of DH’s military career we lived on Base and, except for the last two postings, the children and I attended the Base Chapel. Our second to last posting was to a city with a Francophone Catholic Community (we had a chaplain but were too few to qualify for parish status). That’s where we attended Mass most of the time and that’s the community we supported financially. Our last posting was to a Base where there was no Catholic Chaplain so we had to attend the territorial parish and that’s still where we are now after buying a home in the area.

We went home to the parish where I grew up to have our first two children baptized by the priest who had officiated at our wedding – it never occurred to me that I needed permission for that and he certainly never indicated any such thing. The third was baptized at the Base chapel where we were posted – it was too far & expensive to go home.

As for the other sacraments,
DD - First Communion on the Base; Confirmation at the Francophone Catholic Community
DS1 - First Communion at the parish associated with his school; Confirmation at the Francophone Catholic Community
DS2 - First Communion on Base; Confirmation at the territorial parish where we now live.

It’s a jurisdiction issue for baptism. If the priest wants to baptize outside of his territory (emergencies excluded), even for his subjects, then he needs permission from the proper pastor. (Can. 862)

Can. 861
§1 The ordinary minister of baptism is a Bishop, a priest or a deacon, without prejudice to the provision of can. 530, n. 1.
§2 If the ordinary minister is absent or impeded, a catechist or some other person deputed to this office by the local Ordinary, may lawfully confer baptism; indeed, in a case of necessity, any person who has the requisite intention may do so. Pastors of souls, especially parish priests, are to be diligent in ensuring that Christ’s faithful are taught the correct way to baptise.

Can. 862 Except in a case of necessity, it is unlawful for anyone without due permission to confer baptism outside his own territory, not even upon his own subjects.

Can. 863 The baptism of adults, at least of those who have completed their fourteenth year, is to be referred to the Bishop, so that he himself may confer it if he judges this appropriate.

Can. 530 The functions especially entrusted to the parish priest are as follows:
1° the administration of baptism; …

 

[Phemie]

It’s a jurisdiction issue for baptism. If the priest wants to baptize outside of his territory (emergencies excluded), even for his subjects, then he needs permission from the proper pastor. (Can. 862)

(snip)

Oh, I realize all that now, but 33 years ago canon law wasn’t on my radar. In fact, I never knew about permission at all until I was preparing baptismal certificates for our neighboring parish/mission and came across an entry in the Register : Jane Brown born MM/DD/YY in City X, baptized at St. Anne-de-Beaupré July 26/YY (without permission). Parents: Jane Black and John Brown.

Ignoring the fact that that should not have been in that register at all, it was the first time I’d had any inkling that I should have had permission to take DD & DS1 home to be baptized. I subsequently looked it up in Canon Law. But in the same way as we weren’t told that DS2’s United Church uncle wasn’t a godfather/sponsor but a Christian witness, we weren’t told by the priest in my hometown that we/he needed permission for our son to be baptized there.

When I prepare parents for Baptism and the Baptism will take place elsewhere I make sure to mention in the letter to the baptizing Priest that the Pastor gives his permission for the child to be baptized in parish X, Y or Z.

 

[CMatt25]

If you call your diocese office, they will be able to tell you.

Or you could email. I knew which Catholic parish was closest to where I live and where a Catholic neighbor attended. But just to be certain of the territorial for my Catholic neighbors incase I wanted to attend a Catholic Mass there, that’s what I did. It took a few days to a wk as I recall but they eventually responded.

 

[SalesianSDB]

I currently go to a Jesuit university far from home so I usually attend Mass at the university chapel. Though I’m considering going to a nearby parish for Mass now instead.

 

[CMatt25]

I sometimes attend Sunday Mass at the parish I work at (I work at the school) if my husband is with me because he prefers that parish. That is the parish where I made my sacraments. We used to live closer to it. We moved but I continued RCIA and made my sacraments there because I was almost finished. That parish feels more like “home” because we were more involved there and know more people there, and I work there.

If I am alone, I attend Sunday Mass at my territorial parish because it is only 1 1/2 miles from me. I wish I could walk there. I attempted to do that this morning but the roads are too hazardous. No shoulder or sidewalk to walk on. Just a road and a ditch. Shame because I would like to have the exercise and enjoy a nice walk.

Anp, either Houston does not have the humidity or heat as where I live, though I believe it does, or you just don’t perspire as much as me. When I’ve attended Catholic Masses, I’d have liked the idea of walking too. And the closest Catholic church to me is 1 1/2 miles as well. I’d have a sidewalk but would have to cross a heavily travelled intersection. But in hot, humid weather I’m not sure how that would have worked for me. Granted I’d most likely be in cooler clothing such as a nice pair of knee length shorts and a short sleeve shirt. But still I might have ended up showing up less than dry. Nevertheless I don’t care for a priest’s homilies there. So when I’ve gone to Catholic Mass since, I’ve spent gas and driven 10 miles round trip.

 

[CMatt25]

I currently go to a Jesuit university far from home so I usually attend Mass at the university chapel. Though I’m considering going to a nearby parish for Mass now instead.

I always liked the Jesuits but from what I understand there are none any longer in my entire state. Where I previously lived, the small town Catholic priest was a Jesuit. A really cool priest.

 

[SalesianSDB]

I always liked the Jesuits but from what I understand there are none any longer in my entire state. Where I previously lived, the small town Catholic priest was a Jesuit. A really cool priest.

The other parish I think is also Jesuit run. I just want to see how different it is and if I like it more.

 

[CMatt25]

The other parish I think is also Jesuit run. I just want to see how different it is and if I like it more.

I think it’s great to do that. I’ve attended many Catholic parishes in my lifetime and found I liked some better than others. Peace.