Catholic Council

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The Catholic Council (also: Diözesanrat , Diözesansynodalrat , Diocesan Council of Catholics , Believers ' Council, Lay Council ) is an independent body of the so-called lay apostolate at the diocese level .

Its members, lay people and clergy , come from the deanery and parish councils , but also from Catholic associations , organizations and initiatives. The individual diocesan councils send delegates to the Central Committee of German Catholics , and in Bavaria also to the State Committee of Catholics .

tasks

It has the task of promoting, coordinating and bundling the forces of the lay apostolate in the diocese . He works independently in social areas and works with his own voice in the work of the church in society and the world . He represents the concerns of Catholics in public and gives suggestions for their work in church and society.

Legal Status

"Although the diocesan council is autonomous in its activity, the diocesan council is dependent on the recognition of the diocesan bishop as the ultimate responsible head of the diocese , who has to ensure the unity and integrity of the faith in the diocese entrusted to it. The bishop can also refuse this legally necessary recognition or withdraw it again, but only for legally relevant reasons, which can only be a serious violation of the church's religious belief and / or legal system and which must be proven in legal and factual terms. If such a violation does not occur, the diocesan council has a legal claim towards episcopal recognition. The Diocesan Council acts independently as an autonomous body, but within the ecclesiastical legal requirements. "

"The diocesan council is neither prescribed nor recommended in the ecclesiastical code , it is not mentioned at all; it goes back to a recommendation of the Second Vatican Council : 'In the dioceses, advisory bodies should be set up as far as possible to support the apostolic activity of the church in the area of ​​the Support evangelization and sanctification , in the charitable and social area and in other areas with appropriate cooperation between clergy and religious with the laity ”( AA 26) This recommendation was taken up by the“ Joint Synod of the Dioceses in the Federal Republic of Germany ”(1970-75) and decided as an 'order' that a body (to be set up) in the dioceses, which is the body recognized by the diocesan bishop within the meaning of the council decree on the apostolate of the laity (Art. 26). ' This recommendation was made in the 1983 ecclesiastical code on the other hand, found no entry, so that the Diocesan Council has no direct legal basis there t. From this, however, the conclusion cannot be drawn that it has no legal basis at all, but only that it only has a general legal basis, namely the basic provision under association law with the following wording: 'Believers are free to organize associations for the purposes of Caritas or piety or to freely establish and govern freely to promote the Christian calling in the world and to hold meetings to pursue these purposes together '(c. 215). In this context, support can also be given to the fundamental right and the fundamental duty of the faithful, in what concerns the welfare of the Church, to make their opinion known to the spiritual shepherds and the other believers (c. 212 § 3) as well as to the basic duty especially of Laypeople, “as individuals or in associations, to help that the divine message of salvation is recognized and accepted by all people in the world” (c. 225 § 1). Since the diocesan council is not explicitly mentioned in the ecclesiastical code , there are no general ecclesiastical provisions on its convocation and chairmanship or on the advisory and decisive voting rights of the members; these questions are therefore to be settled in the respective statutes by the diocesan council itself. "

Difference to the diocesan pastoral council

Legally, there are clear differences between the diocesan council and the diocesan pastoral council, even if the concrete form in the individual dioceses is different. Sometimes there is a separate council (e.g. the Archdiocese of Freiburg ), sometimes the diocesan council is the pastoral council (e.g. the Diocese of Rottenburg-Stuttgart ). In the diocese of Regensburg there has been a pastoral council instead of the diocesan council according to can. 512ff. CIC and only one diocesan committee of associations.

The diocesan pastoral council is not an independent body under association law, but a dependent constitutional advisory body of the diocesan bishop. Also recommended by the Second Vatican Council ( CD 27), its establishment is not mandatory in the ecclesiastical code, but advised (cc. 511-514). According to the CIC, the pastoral council consists of clergy and laypeople who are to be selected in such a way that “they really reflect the whole of the people of God who make up the diocese” (Can. 512 §2). The council only has an advisory vote (Can 514 §1) and the task "under the authority of the bishop to examine and advise on everything that relates to pastoral work in the diocese and to propose practical conclusions." (Can . 511)

See also

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Sabine Demel: The Episcopal Authority and the Diocesan Council , in: Voices of the Time (2005), 673.
  2. ^ Resolution: Councils and Associations 3.4.9 , in: Joint Synod of the Dioceses in the Federal Republic of Germany, Vol. 1 (Freiburg 1976) 672
  3. ↑ Sabine Demel: The Episcopal Authority and the Diocesan Council , in: Voices of the Time (2005), 673f.