My favorite priest is leaving my parish can I just switch parishes

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SacredHeartBassist

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Or is that wrong? I know the priest is replacing him and no thanks
 
You can attend Mass and receive sacraments wherever you want.

But unless you move or the diocese changes the parish lines, you are still canonically a member where you are.
 
Otherwise, pray about the decision. I don’t have enough context to know if leaving is a good decision for you.

I do live in an urban area but occasionally humble myself with the though that people in rural areas don’t have the luxury of parish shopping; they have to make it work at the one parish available to them. Didn’t Mother Theresa say that some people come into your life as blessings, and others as lessons?

Figure out if this issue is really a mountain to die on. For most parishioners, the most contact they have with a priest is during a 10-minute homily. The rest of the Mass is about the Eucharist, not the priest.
 
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My view is that God put you in that parish and in that community for a reason. Unless the new priest is preaching heresy or the liturgy goes agianst the GIRM, and can cause scandall to your kids, then I would stay there.
 
Changing because you don’t like a priest is very shallow and protestant. It was only after a priest knowingly put my life in danger using incense at a weekday mass (he and the other previous priests had an agreed upon method with parishioners who were allergic–say hi to him before Mass and they wouldn’t use it). He looked at me, waved and then went to the back…he came out for Mass with incense. I left and we never returned.

Everything else–the mind-numbing homilies and even the things that were likely illicit…like race sponsor forms for secular charities on the table behind the pews, multiple long non-church community announcements after Mass. There are a few other things…those did not cause us to leave. It was tough, but we stuck it out.
 
One of the many new things I’ve learnt in this forum. I honestly thought it doesn’t matter where you attend Mass. Like you’re not tied to a physical church?
 
I don’t always attend mass at the parish where I am registered. It still counts.
 
Its not a sin to attend another Church. We are just giving the best advice possible. There are things that are not sins, but there are things that are better to do than others.
 
You are a member of the parish in whose boundaries you reside. The pastor of that parish is your pastor.

Priests move about every 2-3 years. Pastors every 6 or so. You should not become attached to one pastor. The bishop, ultimately, is our pastor, our shepherd. He sends his priests to tend his flock.

Can you attend mass at any parish you would like? Yes. But that doesn’t make it your parish or the priest your pastor.
 
I started going to my parish because of this priest. But frankly it’s 25 minutes away, and I live five minutes away from the cathedral so truthfully I ought to be going to the cathedral even though I belong to this other parish
 
I will go to another parish if I believe the priest is low on the orthodoxy scale. That is just what I do. I don’t feel bad about it. People can disagree if they wish.

This was the case a few years back. I don’t regret it. I want a shepherd that is orthodox and inspiring. I won’t discuss here since I’m cranky today, but that is what I would do. Obviously, others here feel differently. That’s fine.
 
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Go where you feel like you are being fed. My old diocese used to let you register at whatever parish you attended if you asked permission.
 
SacredHeartBassist said:
I started going to my parish because of this priest. But frankly it’s 25 minutes away, and I live five minutes away from the cathedral so truthfully I ought to be going to the cathedral even though I belong to this other parish
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Yeah. You should be going to your geographic parish if at all possible. If what is occuring is not good, then work on it. It is only once all avenues are exhausted or the problem is unfixable that you should seek another.
 
I would encourage you to be open to whatever this new priest brings to the parish.
There’s no reason to go chasing after the old one.
In fact, many priests find that groupie mentality kind of embarrassing.
It’s the Mass after all.
I wish you the best, but there’s little to be gained by jumping ship. Offer your services in whatever your ministry is to the new guy.

ETA:
Imagine of our shepherds and confessors had that attitude about us? The Bishop has assigned who he believes is good for your parish, respect that.
 
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For when one says, “I follow Paul,” and another, “I follow Apollos,” are you not being merely human? What then is Apollos? What is Paul? Servants through whom you believed, as the Lord assigned to each. I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth. He who plants and he who waters are one, and each will receive his wages according to his labor. For we are God’s fellow workers. You are God’s field, God’s building.
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Even setting aside canon law and all that legal stuff, 1 Corinthians 3 is rather clear that it’s not our human shepherds who should be drawing us to church. Reflect on why you take part in Christ’s body. Be part of your parish, regardless of who the shepherd happens to be at the time – the big-S Shepherd is still in control and may be calling you to help the little-s shepherd who might lack the skills of your “favorites.” They’re flawed humans too.
 
Choosing one’s parish has become a cult of personality re the pastor. I remember growing up in a parish where the pastor was the same one that my Mom had going to school,he married her and my dad and then various cousins,etc.Safe to say he was there for at least fifty years.Wonder whT the parishioners did if for some reason they didn’t "like " him?😳
 
We moved parishes 2 years ago as the result of a priest change. We tried for months to stick it out, pray for him, had a meeting with him, etc. Ultimately becoming members at a nearby parish was the best decision we ever made. Like father, like son. Like priest, like parish.
 
What’s the rationale behind it, if you don’t mind me asking? And what exactly makes one a member (is it the place where you were baptized or anything like that?). As someone who live in a smaaaaaalll country, I have like 3 or 4 Catholic churches near where I stay and I am not involved in my parish, so to speak. My priests and basically most people at church do not know I exist?
 
You should go to the church that provides the most spiritual growth. I rarely go to my closest parish because it’s basically a protestant church that has legitimate communion. I’d much rather drive a bit farther to go to a “sacred” service and perhaps even learn something from the homily.
 
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