Is this accurate? Parish Registration article

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<<Parish RegistrationApril 10, 2008 Q:I tried to register at a parish, but the secretary told me that I can’tsince I live outside the boundaries of the parish. She told me what myreal parish is supposed to be, based on where I live, but it’snotorious for its guitar Masses and the priests’ leftist social justicesermons, so I don’t want to have anything to do with it! Am I reallyrequired to attend Mass at this horrible parish? — Maggie

http://www.catholicexchange.com/node/71318>>

Is this accurate for all the diocese in the US?
 
Jennifer_J said:
<<Parish RegistrationApril 10, 2008 Q:I tried to register at a parish, but the secretary told me that I can’tsince I live outside the boundaries of the parish. She told me what myreal parish is supposed to be, based on where I live, but it’snotorious for its guitar Masses and the priests’ leftist social justicesermons, so I don’t want to have anything to do with it! Am I reallyrequired to attend Mass at this horrible parish? — Maggie

http://www.catholicexchange.com/node/71318>>

Is this accurate for all the diocese in the US?
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What’s wrong with social justice? Jesus had QUITE a bit to say about it …

Anyway, as for your original question … No, it’s not correct in every diocese. In ours there may as well be no boundaries anymore - but an individual priest is free to not register you based on them. Some dioceses’ still hold to them, so it would be true in those places.

My solution? Hold people to the boundaries - and enforce liturgy norms so that, at least in theory, everyone goes where they belong AND has access to good liturgy, celebrated as it should be.
 
here is the link to Catholic Exchange Q&A
catholicexchange.com/node/71318
yes it is accurate statement of canon law throughout the entire Church, many parish secretaries have not gotten the memo.

as a DRE I cannot prepare your child for sacraments and my pastor cannot administer them unless the pastor of your territorial parish gives permission. (I don’t handle marriage prep but the rule is the same, although only with marriage does the issue of validity arise). Such permission is routinely given, and often automatic, but still the pastor is responsible for care of all souls within his boundaries. the purpose of registration is to handle the financial accounting that is required esp. of donations for tax purposes, but also because of stricter audit requirements enacted by the US Bishops. It is also an issue for the US because in some large cities in the past “ethnic” or other jurisdictional parishes, other than territorial, have been the norm.

It is not true that your family can be denied sacraments if you have not registered in your territorial parish, or have not made regular donations. If you get such a message from a lay staff person go to the pastor, and if it is still a problem go to the chancery. the pastor is within his rights, depending on how school tuition and credits are handled, in requiring you to register and suppor the parish at a certain level in order to attend the parish school or receive tuition credit at regional Catholic schools.
 
Thanks for fixing the link, PuzzleAnnie.

We attend a Parish (and send the kids to school there) way outside our boundery. No one has ever said anything about us having to get any permission for sacraments. I do wonder if it will be a problem when it comes time for weddings (YEARS :eek: from now!), but now I know we have to get permission. I’m not sure what our diocese rules are though.
 
Some of us sometimes find ourselves in confusing positions re. parishes. At one point we were supposed to be members of a military parish by virtue of my husband being in the Forces, we were considered part of a geographic parish by virtue of living off-Base & we were registered members of a language-based Faith Community.
 
I tried to edit but could not
the pastor is, however, within his rights in insisting that families support the parish, and register to track that support, in order to attend the parish school or receive tuition credit for regional Catholic schools.

there is usually no problem with receiving permission to celebrate sacraments in another parish, and in most wedding cases the permission has been sought without the couple being aware of it, as are dispensations, but you still should ask and make sure.

for instance in a town with 3 parishes, pastors might give a blanket permission for children to receive first communion in either of the parishes. Our neighboring pastor is strict on this issue, because of the disparity in fees charged for RE, which causes families to go elsewhere for sacramental prep. The pastor is within is rights as well in insisting that those children in parish supported RE classes are members of the parish.
 
Phemie said:
Some of us sometimes find ourselves in confusing positions re. parishes. At one point we were supposed to be members of a military parish by virtue of my husband being in the Forces, we were considered part of a geographic parish by virtue of living off-Base & we were registered members of a language-based Faith Community.
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yes this is a frequent issue, also the same with college students who are still supported by their parents but live elsewhere. found out at prof. conf. this week different dioceses handle the “ethnic parish” issue differently as well. so in some places for instance all Filipinos or Vietnamese are members of their territorial parish, but also of the ethnic parish of their city.
 
I consulted the diocesan website and found the “parish map” page which showed that the diocese serves nine counties with some 90 parishes. Although lines indicate county boundaries, there is no indication of parish boundaries. It is impossible from the information given to determine in which parish one resides. I have simply taken the tack of registering at the parish which is most convenient to my home. I filled out the paper work and received the donation envelops by mail. No one ever looked to see whether or not there was crossing of a parish boundary. I just show up on Sunday and pray.
The worst thing I have done is retain my K of C membership in upstate NY rather than transferring it to my new location. I’m trying to do faithfulness to the brotherhood. I can’t imagine why anyone would make an issue of “parish boundaries.” Isn’t it enough to find a home and celebrate with your family?

Matthew
 
drafdog said:
I can’t imagine why anyone would make an issue of “parish boundaries.” Isn’t it enough to find a home and celebrate with your family?

Matthew
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Nowadays because the law contains far less related to them, most people don’t make a very big deal of the boundaries. Because of the law, however, one must make a big deal about them in regard to weddings because your proper (territorial or personal parish) pastor has a right to marry you and must give permission for anyone else to do it. That’s basically the only condition still firmly attached to parish membership, but the validity of one’s marriage is important, so we’d better make sure to dot i’s and cross t’s.
 
Phemie said:
Some of us sometimes find ourselves in confusing positions re. parishes. At one point we were supposed to be members of a military parish by virtue of my husband being in the Forces, we were considered part of a geographic parish by virtue of living off-Base & we were registered members of a language-based Faith Community.
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Actually, your case sounds not so much confusing as liberating. Because of the various qualifications for the different parishes, you actually would have had three proper pastors, any of which could have handled your sacraments, etc. That means whereas other people need to shop around and get permissions for things, you could have just gone to the proper pastor you trusted/liked/respected most.
 
I have just stumbled across this thread and carefully read the linked article.

Wow! This is an eye-opener for me.

I am very mixed feelings about this. I mean the kind where your stomach is in a knot. 😦

I recently started attending another parish because the parish I was confirmed in and whose territory I most certainly am in, seems to be getting less and less reverent. When I spoke to the pastor about it, and was very specific, he was cordial and polite, but firm. No substantive changes unless they violate the letter of the rubrics. After several weeks, I have decided not to attend there. There is another parish, much further away, which is so much more reverent Sitting on my desk and waiting for a stamp is my registration form for that parish. I was going to mail it in today.

Now I do not know what to do. I do not want to be defiant to any Church teaching or Church law. I have always said I will not separate myself from Holy Mother Church. But this news makes me hesitate about changing parishes.

All I want is reverence and holiness at Mass. What do I do?
 
as the article linked makes clear, you can attend Mass at any parish you wish, you do not have to register at the new parish. there is no reason on earth to get tied up in knots about this. if you want to celebrate sacraments at another parish, permission from your territorial pastor is usually routine and no problema. you can become active in the new parish, volunteer etc. all without registering.
 
Interesting. I knew about the requirement to get permision from your pastor to marry in another parish, but I didn’t realize that it was tied to address. I got the impression that whatever Parish you registered with was the one that had jursidiction.

Our parish’s website brags, “Parishioners travel from forty-one zip code areas each Sunday to celebrate Eucharist as a community.” Since there are about 5 or 6 other parishes in our area, I am sure some of those zip codes are in other Parishes.

I am a convert. My wife is a cradel catholic. We had our marriage convalidated right before I was confirmed about a year ago, since we were married outside of the chuch.

Are you folks telling me I may need a second convalidation if we happen to live outside the territorial boundries of the parish where we were married?
 
puzzleannie said:
as the article linked makes clear, you can attend Mass at any parish you wish, you do not have to register at the new parish. there is no reason on earth to get tied up in knots about this. if you want to celebrate sacraments at another parish, permission from your territorial pastor is usually routine and no problema. you can become active in the new parish, volunteer etc. all without registering.
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I was looking for just this permission from the canon lawyer who wrote the article but could find nothing either way. Yes, it is true, I ddo not have to register at the new parish. I started attending there off-and-on since August. And ceased attending in completely in November after I was told of a rumor that I have left, not the parish, but the Church (I had been pretty active and was on a couple of rather visible committees).

For now, I will not change my registration. But I think a meeting with one of the priests at the new parish is probably in order.
 
The only time anyone ever made a big deal out of this was when I wanted a priest friend of mine to baptize my daughter at his parish. The issue wasn’t even that my territorial parish needed to give permission, as much as it was my priest friend was annoyed with me for not formally registering in my territorial parish (and once that was completed, my pastor happily granted permission for my daughter to be baptized by my friend).
 
Inman said:
Are you folks telling me I may need a second convalidation if we happen to live outside the territorial boundries of the parish where we were married?
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So many canonical issues get resolved without couples ever being aware the priest has taken care of it, so there’s no need to assume your priest did not get the proper permissions.
 
Jennifer_J said:
<<Parish RegistrationApril 10, 2008 Q:I tried to register at a parish, but the secretary told me that I can’tsince I live outside the boundaries of the parish. She told me what myreal parish is supposed to be, based on where I live, but it’snotorious for its guitar Masses and the priests’ leftist social justicesermons, so I don’t want to have anything to do with it! Am I reallyrequired to attend Mass at this horrible parish? — Maggie

http://www.catholicexchange.com/node/71318>>

Is this accurate for all the diocese in the US?
Click to expand...
You are not required to attend Mass at any particular parish. But you may depending on your Bishop be required to register at a certain parish because of where you live, You would also be required to in some way support that parish, You may however also support another parish if you wish.
 
Br.Rich_SFO said:
You are not required to attend Mass at any particular parish. But you may depending on your Bishop be required to register at a certain parish because of where you live, You would also be required to in some way support that parish, You may however also support another parish if you wish.
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Rarely does anyone register in the parish where I live now. People we never knew existed suddenly pop up looking for sacraments for their children. It turns out they’ve been in the parish for years but nobody knew they were there.

For over 11 years we’ve been the only parish in town, serving the Catholics on the military base. It’s only about 3 miles away but amazingly, because we’re not ON the Base, most of the Catholics don’t bother to join the parish.
 
The registration requirement is to comply with jurisdiction issues. As someone who is a DRE responded. A priest or deacon cannot baptize your children, witness your wedding, approve their confirmation or first communion if he has no jurisdiction over the individual. You can’t authorize when you have no jurisdiction. To receive the sacraments for the first time, you must have the authorization of YOUR pastor, before you have the authorization of the pastor in the parish where you want to receive the sacraments. This also causes complications if you die. You’re supposed to be burried out of your parish.

However, you can register in one parish and attend mass at another. No one is going to chase you away. You may have to mail in your envelop to your parish, even if it’s empty. They do not require that you make a financcial contribution, but they need to have some way of knowing that you’re still in the parish.

JR 🙂
 
Phemie said:
Rarely does anyone register in the parish where I live now. People we never knew existed suddenly pop up looking for sacraments for their children. It turns out they’ve been in the parish for years but nobody knew they were there.

For over 11 years we’ve been the only parish in town, serving the Catholics on the military base. It’s only about 3 miles away but amazingly, because we’re not ON the Base, most of the Catholics don’t bother to join the parish.
Click to expand...
Well according to Canon Law every Catholic is supposed to be registered at a parish somewhere. It is possible that the local parish will not admit children to Sacraments or Marry or allow a funeral form anyone who is not registered in the parish.

We have had that happen here. Someone died who moved here from “up north” and never registered at the local parish, they did attend mass for a little while, before going into a nursing home. No one ever visited them at the nursing home from the parish, when they died the local pastor refused to allow the funeral, he had no idea who they were.
 
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