What is an appropriate residence for priests?

[Carm]

Is it permissible for the priests of a parish to live together in a home in a neighborhood community of “regular” families as “just another neighbor”? This has occurred in my sister’s parish, which is a very affluent parish. This seems scandalous to me. Are there rules about where priests should be living when serving a parish? This could bring an awful lot of temptations their way, to say the least. What happened to the parish priest being available to his flock, anyway?

 

[Michelle_Arnold]

It is the bishop’s responsibility to determine whether or not his diocesan priests must live in a rectory on parish property. It may be that the parish these priests serve does not have adequate living quarters for them. In any case, what kind of temptations do you imagine that priests would face living in a residential family neighborhood? It would be unjust to imagine that priests must be strictly segregated from family neighborhoods merely because they are priests.