Parish & Church

I would like to take this opportunity to explain the difference between a “parish” and a “church.” I have had some conversations recently and I believe this is something that would be beneficial to address. I am also explaining this because I have made a change on the cover of the bulletin which will catch the attention of some.

Canon 515.1 states “A parish is a certain community of the Christian faithful stably constituted in a particular church, whose pastoral care is entrusted to a pastor…under the authority of the diocesan bishop.”

Canon 1214 states “By the term church is understood a sacred building designated for divine worship to which the faithful have the right of entry for the exercise, especially the public exercise, of divine worship.” Canon 1218 then goes on to say that “Each church is to have its own title which cannot be changed after the church has been dedicated.”

In other words, the parish is the community of the people of God in a particular area while the church is the place where this community gathers to worship and celebrate the Sacraments. 

Parish names can change, church names cannot. Once a particular church building has been given a title (or dedicated to a particular Saint), that name does not change. Thus, the church building located at 920 Fulton Ave. is still, and always will be, St. Patrick Church and the church building located at 13421 Green St. is still, and always will be, St. Anthony Chapel. This is the change that you will see on the cover of the bulletin this week. This will also be the case when you read an obituary for a parishioner, the location of the funeral will be either St. Patrick Church or St. Anthony Chapel of St. Patrick – St. Anthony Parish. It will not be just St. Patrick – St. Anthony Parish, because again, that does not refer to a place, it refers to the community. Historically, the parish name was the name of the church, however, as dioceses throughout the country continue to close and merge parishes, it is helpful to understand this reality. While our parish name changed to St. Patrick – St. Anthony Parish in 2013, the names of the two churches in our community did not change, and this should be reflected in our publications and in our speech. I hope that this helps to clarify and explain our present reality. As always, if you have questions, please do not hesitate to contact me.

~ Fr. Dan