PARISH
500
PARISH
(3) parochial law, 1. c, the riM'iprocal riglits and diitios
of the parish priest and parishioners. 'Ihis constitutes
the care of souls {cura animarum),im essential and
constitutive element of a parish, distinfiuisliint; a paro-
chial l)enefiee from all others. Finally there is re-
quired (.1) a suitable church which must have liesides
the liturgical eijuipment neces.sary for Divine worsliip,
a l)ai)tisinal font texception is occasionally made in
favour of a cathedral or a mother-church; hence in the
Middle .\ges ))ansh churches were often called bap-
tismal cJuirehes), a confessional, and a cemetery. Rec-
ords of the baptisms, marriages, and burials must be
kept, while the entire parish is the object of a liber
status ariimarum, prescribed by the Ritual. I'inally,
the parish has fixed or occasional contributions
for Divine service, the building, liturgical furniture,
parochial works, and all that implies an administra-
tion. Ivocal laws determine the share of the parish-
ioners or their representatives in this administration.
The parish must Ukewise furnish the parish priest
with his presbytery or dwelling.
II. The Parish as a Benefice. — The canonical legisla- tion relati\-e to parishes is part of the legislation con- cerning benefices (q. v.). To the care of souls is annexed by common law a benefice, by its purpose distinct from any other. All parishes are benefices, at least in the wide acceptation of the term; according to canon law, every church should have a stable in- come, especially land revenues, sufficient to insure not only the Divine service but also the support of its clergy. Every parish priest ought to have a fixed beneficial revenue, his congrua, the minimum of which is fixed by the Council of Trent (Sess. XXIV, c. .xiii, de ref.), at one hundred ducats (about one hundred and forty-two dollars), a sum insufficient to-day; the con- grua may be replaced by contributions from the pub- lic treasury, in certain countries, paid in return for former ecclesiastical property now confiscated. Par- ishes without fixed incomes are nevertheless benefices in a broad sense of the term, since they insure a living for their parish priests by gifts and offerings, either voluntary or payable on the occasion of certain acts of the curial ministry, accortling to rates approved by the bishop. Parishes, like other benefices, may be di- vided into several classes. Most parishes are "free", i. e. the bishop himself selects the incumbent; but others are subject to the right of patronage; the pa- trons present to the bishop their candidate. Most parishes are independent, but some are united to other ecclesiastical bodies: chapters, dignities (high eccle- siastical offices), monasteries. By common law they are served by the secular clergy and are hence called secular parishes; but gome, united to houses of reli- gious orders, are served by religious and are conse- quently termed regular. Those confided to religious in virtue of a personal title, are not properly speak- ing regular.
The care of souls places parochial benefices in a special category, and has led to regulations peculiar to them alone. (1) Parishes, to be "free", i. e., freely collated, should be conferred by the bishop within six months like other benefices; but his choice is limited by the concursus (q. v.) ordered by the Council of Trent (.Se.ss. XXIV, c. xviii, de ref.). (2) By common law, a parochial benefice, like other benefices, is per- petual, and the beneficiary irremovable (see Irre- movability; Decree, "Maxima cura", 20 August, 1910). According to this Decree parish priests who were heretofore removable are now withdrawn from purely administrative transference. Irremovable parish priests may have their faculties withdrawn, without any trial properly so called, when the good of BOuLs demands it. The nine reasons given in the afore- said Decree as grounds for this withdrawal of facul- ties relate to corporal or spiritual defects, criminal conduct, serious and prolonged neglect of duty, per- sistent disobedience; these reasons, however, are not
here dealt with as crimes, but solely as obstacles to a
useful parochial ministry; hence the parish priest on
being removed is to be provided for. This adminis-
trat ive procedure a<le<iuately secures the right of initi-
ative necessary for the bishop, and at the same time
safeguards the inlrrcsls (jf the parish priest. It com-
prises three stages: the bishop who thinks that a par-
ish i)ricst is no longer working faithfully among his
flock, is bound to select as counsellors two of the syn-
oilal or pro-synodal examiners, in order of t heir nomina-
tion, and explain the situation to them. If the major-
ity decides to remove the parish priest, the bishop
must first officially request him to resign within ten
days under threat of pronouncing a decree of removal.
The priest may reply to the reasons alleged against
him, and his answer is examined by this council; if the
reply is deemed unsatisfactory, the bishop issues the
decree and notifies the priest. Properly speaking the
latter cannot appeal from the decree, but he may
present his case to a new council, composed of the
bishop and two parish priests as consultors, who
examine whether the reasons given for the removal
have been proved and whether the formalities de-
manded by the decree have been observed; a ma-
jority vote decides (see Council of Trent, Sess. XXI,
c. vi, de ref.).
(3) The same zeal for the welfare of souls inspires special legislation for the erection and division of par- ishes. The erection of a parish takes place by creation when the district and the faithful assigned to the new parish did not belong previously to any priest. This case is extremely rare, as usually the territory of each diocese is divided into parishes more or less exten- sive. A parish is created when a centre of religious activity becomes canonically recognized as a parish, as when a vicariate Apostolic is erected into a diocese. The erection of parishes usually takes place by dis- memberment or division. While in theory the divi- sion of benefices is looked on unfavorably by the law (c. S de Praebendis), it is authorized and even necessi- tated by the welfare of the faithful in the case of par- ishes. The Council of Trent (Sess. XXI, c. iv, de ref.), referring expressly to the Decree "Ad audientiam" of Alexander III (lib. Ill, tit. 48, c. 3), desires bLshops, if necessary as delegates of the Apostolic See, to estab- lish new parishes, in spite of the parish priest's oppo- sition, wherever distance or difficulty of communica- tion does not allow the faithful to frequent the church. In cities an excessive increase of population necessi- tates the multiplication of parishes. The Council in such a case desires bishops to oblige the parish priests to have sufficient number of assistants; but if the pop- ulation is too great for the parish priest " to know his sheep" (Sess. XXI, c. i), the erection of a new parish is obligatory and the Congregation of the Council has several times recognized this as a legitimate reason. The legal formalities for the erection of a new parish further require the request either of the parish priest whose parish is to be divided, or of other interested persons, if there bo any such; the consent of the chap- ter, unless custom has ruled otherwise; finally the guarantee of a sufficient income for the new parish, either by a partition of the property of the dismem- bered parish or parishes, or at least by the contribu- tions of the inhabitants of the new one. The erection is effected by an episcopal decree. As a rule a special kinship exists between the old and the new parishes; the old being called the "mother" and the new the "filial" parish, the latter being bound to make cer- tain offerings to the former, generally honorary, e. g., the annual gift of a candle. Special "foundations" of the old parish, created for the benefit, not of the clergy, but of the faithful (alms for the poor) are divided pro rata. Finally, the same procedure is observed for the extinction or suppression of a parish, by its union with anot her, when the number of the faithful has decreased so as no longer to warrant the presence of a parish priest.
