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These resources provide detailed guidance for planning and executing a parish modification.
In 2013, the congregation for the clergy wrote a letter to all of the diocesan bishops, reflecting on the reality of parish modifications and mergers. In the letter they analyzed common pitfalls and gave updates on the jurisprudence from Rome as far as how to do this. In that letter…
The Catholic Church distinguishes between physical persons and juridic persons. Each one of us is a physical person, obviously. A juridic person is a legal personage. In the civil world, for example, an incorporation would be similar to a juridic person in the Church. That juridic person is a subject…
A parish is the community of the faithful. It’s the people themselves. It has nothing to do with property that they happen to own, or buildings that they own, or things that they do. Territorial vs. personal parishes. Territorial parishes are united by geography—people who live within that region…
A sacred space is any space set aside by the proper authority for sacred use, primarily for the worship of God. There are three types of common sacred spaces: a church, an oratory, and a chapel. Church. The church is a sacred building, designed for divine worship, to which the…
Bona Sacra refers to the sacred goods that belong to a juridic person. This includes substantial items that have been set aside for sacred use, such as Stations of the Cross, bells, stained glass windows, and sacred vessels—not smaller items such as old hymnals…
Some of these processes require consultation with a body. Others require the consent of that body. Consultation. This means that the body needs to be heard. The person making a decision needs to get the advice of that body before proceeding, but does not necessarily have to follow the advice…
There are three canonical processes relating to the modification of a parish. These are: Modification, Relegation to profane use, Alienation of property. There are three types of modification: Suppression, Extinctive union, of which there are two varieties, Total division. Suppression. In a suppression, the parish completely ceases to exist because…
As previously noted, there is a distinction between an amalgamation and a merger. An amalgamation is where you have a situation of A plus B plus C equals a bigger version of one of those three, so a bigger version of an existing parish. An amalgamation requires:
Just cause, Convocation…
A merger differs from an amalgamation in that a brand new parish is created. In a merger, a brand new parish is created, so A plus B plus C equals brand new parish D. A merger has the same requirements as an amalgamation. It requires:
a just cause; convocation of…
Relegation for profane use is the closing of a church, no longer using it as a sacred space. That process must be done prior to alienating the property. Something to keep in mind is that an altar can never be relegated to profane use. So altars would need to either…
There are two situations in which alienation of property would require permission from the Holy See. These are: The value exceeds 3.5 million dollars or the item(s) or property are considered artistic or precious for historical reasons. There’s no jurisprudence on what “artistic or precious” means specifically, but generally speaking…
In an amalgamation, the sacramental registers are closed for all of the parishes that went extinct. The sacramental registers of whichever parish continues to exist are the only ones that are used. Because one of the parishes had already existed, there is no new civil entity created either, as in…
Deferred maintenance is a pressing concern. Across the Archdiocese, the cost is hundreds of millions of dollars, and this is going to be the determining factor in whether certain places stay open or not. So you need to get on top of that very quickly. Insurance claims. Deferred maintenance can…
Once the merger happens, the new parish is responsible for the church and the current parish council would decide whether to start the process for relegation.
Once a new parish exists, that parish now has the parish and the finance councils, and the previous ones cease to exist. This is not always an easy situation to navigate, and that’s where openness, communication, and transparency is going to pay off.
The decree effecting the merger or amalgamation defines which church becomes the parochial church. The other churches are then subsidiary churches. Parochial Church: A parochial church, like any church, must be open for public worship. In a church, the Blessed Sacrament must be reserved, and Mass is to be celebrated…
There is no set process to move a church to an oratory. If you were to do this, you would in theory have to relegate the church to profane use, but then reestablish it as an oratory. You would have to explain the grave cause to relegate the church, but…
In his decree, the Archbishop would assign a parochial church in your family. However, the Archbishop would talk with the pastor and the people, taking into account what they believe is best. In the case of a merger, when there is a brand new entity, you can choose any of…
For various reasons, amalgamation is easier on the backend because you’re not creating a new entity. Pastorally, though, I think a lot of people are going to see it as the big fish swallowing the smaller fishes. You have to present both realities to your people so they understand the…
Learn more about how to prepare for and navigate the sale of church property from a financial and canonical perspective.
A business plan will allow you to: Understand your current reality. Some of you are brand new to your family of parishes. You cannot even begin to plan unless you realize the current reality of each of your parishes. It’s absolutely critical. Determine how to best move forward. Based on…
Your business plan should have four key elements: Plan, Execute, Evaluate, and Adjust. Plan. This includes understanding the current reality and determining critical success factors. Execute. This includes getting outside help. This project is way too big for you to try to do it yourself. You have to rely on…
Identify critical success factors. As you’re putting this plan together, part of what you’re doing is asking the tough questions and determining critical success factors. For example, what do staffing levels look like, whether you have an individual parish or if you were to combine parishes? Recruit lots of help…
We can provide you with real world tools that you can use to gauge the current reality at your parish and create your business plan. As you go through the resources, here are key points to keep in mind. A staffing plan is included in the resources, which we discuss…
You need a complete inventory of what you have and the state that it’s in, and what you can expect future costs to be. What’s the average maintenance cost for running your church? Are there any current projects underway for that building? Are there deferred maintenance issues? Include the following…
Contracts represent potential surprises for you as you move forward. It’s important to know what they are to avoid problems down the road. For every contract you have, you’ll want to know: Who is the contract with? When did you sign it? What does it cost annually? How long is…
This is a difficult topic but it can’t be ignored. A staffing analysis means taking an inventory of your people by role. You need to assess what they do and what they cost each year in benefits and salary. You can get the payroll information from your business manager. Inevitably…
Donors are those who give money to support the parish. Influencers, on the other hand, may not give a lot of money, but can mobilize volunteers and get things done. Whether you’re new to the parish or not, it’s important to be aware of your significant donors and influencers. This…
I am convinced that Beacons of Light, born of great hope, will enable us to form stronger parishes, centered on the Eucharist, that radiate the love of Christ and joy of the Gospel… God has abundantly blessed our first two centuries and will certainly bless the next.
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