Parish Council

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The parish council (abbreviated PGR ) is a body in a Catholic parish / church , made up of elected, appointed and official members. The official members include the pastor responsible , the other parish priests and the pastoral workers. The parish council has the task of advising or making decisions on all questions that concern the parish. It has only been introduced in this form in the German-speaking area. Its function is to be distinguished from that in can. 536 CIC , which, under the chairmanship of the responsible pastor, has only the task of helping to promote pastoral care. The parish council was set up to make the shared responsibility of all believers in Christ (lay apostolate) more tangible and visible. He is to be distinguished from the church administration , since he does not take care of property and personnel issues.

Parish council election

Most of the time, the parish council is elected by the members of the parish. Who can and cannot be elected depends on the statutes of the diocese. In some dioceses, in addition to the elected lay people and pastors, there are also some employees appointed by the committee, for example for areas such as Caritas, child and youth work. In some dioceses, believers who do not live in the parish can also participate in the election. In many dioceses parents have half the right to vote for their children under the age of 16. In many dioceses, people aged 14 and over can be elected. Occasionally (e.g. in the diocese of Essen ) the parish council is formed from delegated representatives of parish councils, who in turn are elected in the parishes existing in a parish.

Depending on the size of the parish and the order of the respective diocese , the number of members and tasks of this body are determined differently. In medium-sized parishes, the PGR has around ten to fifteen elected members, plus a few delegates.

Historical

The establishment of parish councils goes back to a resolution of the Second Vatican Council (1962–1965). The decree Apostolicam actuositatem on the apostolate of the laity encourages the establishment of “advisory bodies” in the parishes (cf. AA 26 ). After the Second Vatican Council, the question was how the resolutions from there would be implemented in German-speaking countries. The Synod of the German Dioceses met in Würzburg from 1972 to 1975 , where the resolutions of the Second Vatican Council were applied to the situation in Germany. Through the ratification of the diocesan bishops, the joint resolutions of the synod were implemented in all local churches. Lay people and clergy wanted to implement the ideas of the council together in the synod and react to the changed social situation. One of the essential elements was a greater participation of the faithful, not only in the liturgy but also in the decision-making processes of the Catholic Church. An essential element for this should be the newly designed parish council, whose members were henceforth usually two-thirds elected by all eligible voters.

Committees and agendas

In order to be able to do its work, the parish council forms several committees - in larger parishes, for example, on the subjects of liturgy , mission , Caritas , youth, marriage and family, senior citizens, mass media , festival organization, construction and administration. In most cases, non-members of the PGR are also appointed to these committees, which leads to broader participation by church visitors.

With reference to the Würzburg Synod (1976), the following applies to the dioceses in Germany :

  • The parish council only acts in an advisory capacity on all matters that are entrusted to the pastor as the commissioned pastor and leader of the community, for example liturgy and the dispensing of the sacraments .
  • He can decide on measures that affect the service of the community for society and the world, for example Caritas, media, one-world projects , politics and church asylum .
  • In most dioceses, questions of asset management do not fall under the responsibility of the parish council. The parish administration council , the church administration or the church council are responsible for them.

Coordination between the church council , the church administration or the parish administration council makes sense. Mutual staff representatives are usually anchored in the respective statutes.

Regional particularities

In Austria and some southern German dioceses, the parish council or parish council is responsible for asset management in addition to parish work and has a quorum in this area.

The diocese of Regensburg is an exception in the agendas in Germany . In 2005 can. 536 of the worldwide ecclesiastical code of law CIC (1983) interpreted differently than in the other German dioceses, in which the agreement of the Joint Conference of the Central Committee of German Catholics and the German Bishops' Conference still applies, according to which the German parish council has an aliud (different) but an not totaliter aliud (completely different) to can. 536 is: The leadership function of the pastor in pastoral and theological questions is ensured by a comprehensive right of veto. Can. 536 of the CIC reads: “§ 1. If the diocesan bishop, after hearing the council of priests, deems it appropriate, a pastoral council is to be formed in every parish, presided over by the pastor; In it, believers, together with those who by virtue of their office take part in pastoral care, should help to promote pastoral care. § 2. The pastoral council has only advisory voting rights and is regulated by the norms set by the diocesan bishop. "

In the diocese of Rottenburg-Stuttgart the parish council is known as the parish council (KGR for short).

In the Protestant churches, the terms church (s) parish council, parish council, parish council, presbytery or group of elders are used for the elected leadership body of the congregation (see also church congregation leadership ). Depending on the church constitution, the competences go beyond those of a parish council and extend to all questions of parish life up to the election of a parish priest.

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