Pastoral Council
What is a Parish Pastoral Council
and What Purpose Does It Serve?
What is a Parish Pastoral Council
and What Purpose Does It Serve?
Since October 2004, it has been the policy of the Archdiocese of Dublin that each parish should have a Parish Pastoral Council. The Parish Pastoral Council is composed of the priests, pastoral workers and representatives of the members of the Church residing in the Parish.
Our Mission Statement Invoking the Grace of God, under the patronage of our Blessed Mother, we the Roman Catholic community of Sandyford, Kilternan and Glencullen, rooted in the core values of the Gospels and the teachings of Jesus Christ are determined to keep His message alive and to teach and put into practice His loving kindness in our homes, workplaces and community and make our parish a safe, kind and welcoming place in which to live.
The Parish Motto is
‘In Domino Confido’=’In the Lord We Trust’
The role of the Parish Pastoral Council is to assist in promoting the pastoral life and spiritual welfare of the Parish. The Parish Pastoral Council is not comparable to the Board of Directors of a company. It is largely a consultative and advisory body.
It discusses pastoral issues and assists the priests and pastoral workers in understanding and fulfilling the pastoral needs of the Parish. It holds regular meetings – about ten a year. Its meetings commence and end with a prayer invoking the guidance of the Holy Spirit in its work.
The meetings are formal in nature, have an agenda that the Chairperson agrees with the Pastor in advance, are confidential and typically last between 1 and 1 ½ hrs.
Amongst its formal and specific responsibilities, the Parish Pastoral Council is responsible for establishing a Mission Statement for the Parish after consultation with parishioners, reviewing it periodically and monitoring and promoting its implementation.
The Parish Pastoral Council does not make binding decisions but its recommendations are to be taken seriously by the Pastor who presides over the Council and is responsible for all decisions of a pastoral nature and their implementation.
Although the pastoral remit of the Parish Pastoral Council is a broad one, the Pastoral Council has no role in parish finances, whether raising finance, prudential supervision of assets or investment. This is the function of the Finance Committee which in its own way plays an important role in the fulfilment of the Parish Mission Statement.
Pope Francis