(CNS photo/Karen Callaway, Catholic New World)
Every parish must have a pastoral council, bishop says
By Patrick Downes
Hawaii Catholic Herald
Bishop Larry Silva has mandated that every parish in Hawaii have a pastoral council, a group of parishioners that advises the pastor or parish administrator on pastoral matters and future plans.
The 1,200-word document “Norms for Parish Pastoral Councils in the Diocese of Honolulu,” which the bishop put into effect Nov. 15, describes the rationale, makeup and function of the council.
The goal of these norms is “to assist pastors and parishes with greater pastoral planning, guided by the pastoral plan of the Diocese of Honolulu,” the bishop wrote in his decree promulgating the norms.
“The purpose of the parish pastoral council is pastoral planning and creating a vision for the future of the parish,” the norms state.
Council members “prayerfully investigate and discern issues of concern to the whole parish and make recommendations to the pastor for goals and actions.”
The topics the council would address include “evangelization, faith formation, stewardship, leadership, worship, social ministry, youth and young adults, marriage and family life, and community life.”
According to James Walsh, the diocesan director of pastoral planning who helped draft the norms, diocesan rules for parish pastoral councils already existed, but they were long and cumbersome.
“We reduced it from five pages to two and a half,” he said, and tried to make it “simple to read and understand.”
The new norms strive to avoid church jargon, he said.
According to the new norms, a parish pastoral council is to have at least five members plus all the parish priests and deacons.
Members are chosen by a parish election, by the pastor, or both. They should be representative of the entire parish — “a microcosm of the parish.”
The council is to meet at least once a quarter. The pastor must preside at each meeting, but the meeting is run by an elected chairperson or, in the absence of the chairperson, the vice-chairperson.
Prayer or faith sharing is to be a part of each meeting.
The minutes, taken by an assigned secretary, become part of the parish records and should be available for parishioners to read.
The pastoral council is to have statutes or by-laws, written by the council, that define its purpose, composition, leadership and operation. The statutes must be drafted in accord with the diocesan norms and approved by the pastor.
According to Walsh, the old norms strongly recommended but did not require parishes to have pastoral councils. The new norms do.
“Every parish is expected to have a pastoral council,” Walsh said.
The deadline for each parish to have a fully functioning pastoral council with proper statutes that conform to the norms is June 9 of next year, Pentecost Sunday.
Parishes are also required to have a parish finance council which is also advisory. Unlike the pastoral council, which is mandated by the diocesan bishop, the finance council is a requirement of the Code of Canon Law.
The parish may also create other committees to address specific areas such as stewardship and building and maintenance.
