Is there an actual map of who is in what parish territory?

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Titivillus said:
I just don’t think I’ve told anyone where to worship – Only that they have parochial rights that devolve from Canon Law. (And until now I have not said, but perhaps more importantly: Their proper pastors have parochial responsibilities devolving from same (The faithful may be excused if they are unaware of these situations; Their pastors likely may not))
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That was what my question was stemming from. If I happened to want to get married, I would need to talk to my own pastor by territory, whether or not I’d been attending that parish. That would require me to be able to positively identify said individual.
 
No one is saying you can’t worship at any parish of your choosing… of course you can. That right is protected under canon law. But canon law also defines parish membership as a matter of geography… and the pastor of your local, geographical parish has a certain canonical obligation to care for your soul… its important that people realize this.
 
We have what I consider a strange situation. We live in one diocese but the closest church to us is another diocese about a twenty minute drive. I have tried unsuccessfully to find out which parish we are in. There are two parishes that we might belong to about the same distance and time 45 minutes. But I cannot find out which parish we belong to. I called the Diocesan office only to be told they thought we belong to the church in the other diocese even though we live in their diocese. Talk about being confused it is the bishop who told me that we are technically in his diocese. Everyone knows this but still we are never told which parish we belong to.
 
hope said:
We have what I consider a strange situation. We live in one diocese but the closest church to us is another diocese about a twenty minute drive. I have tried unsuccessfully to find out which parish we are in. There are two parishes that we might belong to about the same distance and time 45 minutes. But I cannot find out which parish we belong to. I called the Diocesan office only to be told they thought we belong to the church in the other diocese even though we live in their diocese. Talk about being confused it is the bishop who told me that we are technically in his diocese. Everyone knows this but still we are never told which parish we belong to.
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That’s most unfortunate.

The idea that someone answering the phone at the diocese would tell you that you’re a member of the other diocese when you live in that diocese is very strange. The people who answer the phones should be referring you to someone who knows the answer to your question instead of just guessing and giving wrong information.

It sounds like a rural area. I’m taking a guess here, so don’t treat it as anything other than that, but in rural areas, parishes are often defined by the county. I’m curious if the 2 parishes in your diocese just might happen to be the only parish in each county?
 
Your guess is a good one not only rural but mountains. The county was something I never thought about. The one parish that I think might be our parish is in our same county. In this county there are two parishes. Each parish is in a different town. The parish which we go to is twenty minutes away in a different county. This county also has two parishes in different towns. So in two counties there are only two churches per county. I don’t know if they ever asked permission when my children received their sacraments. I just checked and they get permission for marriage only. Thank you Father and have a happy lent.
 
Yes, there probably is a map in the archdiocese but it may not be available or very useful. When I lived in another city, I called the chancellor to ask which parish territory I actually lived in and the chancellor had a hard time trying to decipher the map since I lived around the boundary line. I was told it didn’t matter.
 
I share your situation a bit. I’ve never set foot in our residential parish. Never attended Mass in our residential diocese. We’ve never had an issue or even had to consult across diocesan lines for marriage, baptisms, etc.
 
Been wondering this for myself lately.

Looked at our diocese site, South Carolina, does not list either church I am close to. I guess they are just listed under the church with the same priest(s) serving. Rural area but one of the parishes crosses a county boundary, the adjacent county and it’s mission church(one I attend) is in my county.

Nvr, the closer one is not listed at all.
 
TheLittleLady said:
That is because the parish offices did it for you.
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I understand that’s how it’s supposed to work; I’m just saying in my case, however, it didn’t. I worked in the parish office at the time. The secretary contacted the parish of my baptism, and the bishop of our registered parish signed the needed dispensation, but our residential parish/diocese/bishop wasn’t contacted in any way.
 
I just checked with the Parish Office no permission was sought for baptism confirmation first communion or for the one marriage that we had in the parish
 
I’ve seen instances where undertrained parish staff mishandles these things. The good thing is that these mishandlings don’t impact the validity of the Sacrament(s).
 
It may also the case that he Bishop has given faculties for pastors to handle pastoral matters for parishes other than their own. Perhaps parishes in the same deanery.
 
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Now I am confused, not sure what to even say.

I am not in any parish; striaight from the mouth(email account) of the diocese of Charleston.

How is that possible? Doesn’t everyone belong to a parish? Am I part of the Diocese?
 
For those of us seeking the Sacrament of Holy Matrimony, it is important to know these things.

(I am a member of the Personal Ordinariate of the Chair of St. Peter. For me to validly marry another ordinariate member in a non-ordinariate parish, permission must be sought from either the bishop or my proper pastor.)
 
I did a search for “diocese of Charleston map” and found this
 
neat map.

way more catholics in Horry and York counties than I would have guessed.

Here is actual parish boundaries as was sent to me(without my address on it!)
(Please Note: This uploaded content is no longer available.)
 
hoping4more said:
way more catholics in Horry and York counties than I would have guessed.
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Perhaps there are major institutions in those counties, that draw from a lot broader area? Maybe a school or a big monastery or army base within limits. The city of Attica, NY is 21% African American, but you would never know it walking down Main St.
 
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