Mega Churches Are Catholic Too

[Ed Normile]

[quote name='Nihil Obstat' timestamp='1345782109' post='2473326']
I have never seen a small megachurch.
[/quote]

How about a medium size megachurch, or would that be a medichurch? I figured if any one woudl know, it would have to be you, you frenchy french man !

ed

[Nihil Obstat]

[quote name='Ed Normile' timestamp='1346122050' post='2475176']
How about a medium size megachurch, or would that be a medichurch? I figured if any one woudl know, it would have to be you, you frenchy french man !

ed
[/quote]


On a scale from 1 to French, I am about 3.

[Vincent Vega]

[quote name='Groo the Wanderer' timestamp='1346121761' post='2475174']

our annual toilet paper bill is over $5000
[/quote]
Mine too!

jk I take all of my toilet paper from campus.

[Ed Normile]

[quote name='Nihil Obstat' timestamp='1346122117' post='2475179']
On a scale from 1 to French, I am about 3.
[/quote]

So that makes you French +1, or megaFrench! Do you abstain from deodorant?

ed

[Nihil Obstat]

[quote name='Ed Normile' timestamp='1346122364' post='2475184']
So that makes you French +1, or megaFrench! Do you abstain from deodorant?

ed
[/quote]

I use only the finest of deodorant. Never anti-perspirant though. I also don't shave my armpits, but I think that's more a French chick thing.

[Ed Normile]

[quote name='Nihil Obstat' timestamp='1346124140' post='2475197']
I use only the finest of deodorant. Never anti-perspirant though. I also don't shave my armpits, but I think that's more a French chick thing.
[/quote]

Yeah, the french dudes shave their legs and chests, that way they do not do the velcro thing with their mate.

ed

[Nihil Obstat]

[quote name='Ed Normile' timestamp='1346210891' post='2475582']
Yeah, the french dudes shave their legs and chests, that way they do not do the velcro thing with their mate.

ed
[/quote]

Well then that proves conclusively that I am Not Particularly Frenchâ„¢. I am quite hairy.

[Tab'le De'Bah-Rye]

[quote name='Groo the Wanderer' timestamp='1346121761' post='2475174']
our weekend attendance ranges from 6-8 thousand. don;t even get me started about the numbers on Ash Wednesday, Easter, and Christmas

6000+families registered

unknown how many not registered.



our annual toilet paper bill is over $5000
[/quote]

What does registered mean ? Baptised at the parish, confirmed at the parish, attending mass every sunday at the least at the parish?

[Tab'le De'Bah-Rye]

JESUS iz LORD

Edited August 29, 2012 by Tab'le Du'Bah-Rye

[Ed Normile]

[quote name='Tab'le Du'Bah-Rye' timestamp='1346225456' post='2475667']
What does registered mean ? Baptised at the parish, confirmed at the parish, attending mass every sunday at the least at the parish?
[/quote]

Usaully registering with a parish includes you in their rolls and they send out the tithe envelops with your name on it which can be used a a tax deduction.

ed

[Nihil Obstat]

Canonically speaking though, your registered parish means nothing. It's always the territorial parish.

[Papist]

[quote name='Nihil Obstat' timestamp='1346260933' post='2475877']
Canonically speaking though, your registered parish means nothing. It's always the territorial parish.
[/quote]
I don't understand. Unless you register with a parish, your address is not known.

[Nihil Obstat]

[quote name='Papist' timestamp='1346267658' post='2475924']
I don't understand. Unless you register with a parish, your address is not known.
[/quote]

Canonically speaking, the parish that matters is the one whose territory you live within. Just like how you fall under the diocese's bishop's pastoral care by living within his diocese, you're under the care of the geographical parish priest by living within his parish. That pastor, in theory, has the first responsibility of the care of your soul. At least this is how Phatcatholic's brother explained it to me.

[Nihil Obstat]

Whoa, turns out Fr. Z is writing about exactly the same thing today.





[b] QUAERITUR: At which parish should I register?[/b]
[color=#888888][font='Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, 'Nimbus Sans L', sans-serif][size=3][background=transparent]
[background=transparent]Posted on[/background] [url="http://wdtprs.com/blog/2012/08/quaeritur-at-which-parish-should-i-register/"][background=transparent]29 August 2012[/background][/url] [background=transparent]by[/background] [background=transparent][url="http://wdtprs.com/blog/author/fatherz/"]Fr. John Zuhlsdorf[/url][/background][/background][/size][/font][/color][background=transparent]
[background=transparent]

[left][background=transparent][/background][/left][/background][background=transparent]
From a reader:[/background][indent][background=transparent]
I used to live in a dense part of the city with lots of churches (10 within a 1 mile radius). Partly because we were too tall to fit in the pews, and partly because we wanted to support the efforts of a pastor celebrating the Traditional Latin Mass, [b]we registered at the neighboring Traditional Latin Mass parish instead of our geographical parish[/b]. I always attended daily mass where I work (at lunch), so I never went to my geographical parish .[/background][background=transparent]
About 7 months ago we moved to another part of the city that is not quite so dense with churches, and so going to one outside of your proper boundaries is not quite as normal. In the past three weeks I have been attending daily mass in the morning at my current geographical parish due to lots of lunch time meetings. I finally introduced myself to the pastor last week. [b]He asked me about registering and was bristled by the fact that I have been living in his boundaries for so long while still registered and attending mass at the Traditional Latin Mass parish[/b].[/background][background=transparent]
What is the right thing to do in this situation? [b]My geographical parish is struggling[/b]in attendance, finances, and general liveliness.[/background][background=transparent]
I can see why the pastor would be upset to “lose” two of “his” people to another parish. The Traditional Latin Mass parish isn’t exactly thriving either. It’s mostly elderly Italians. The Traditional Latin Mass is mostly people who travel from somewhere else.[/background][background=transparent]
I appreciate your guidance on this.[/background][/indent][background=transparent]
Okay, let’s look at the big picture.[/background][background=transparent]
Why are there parishes?[/background][background=transparent]
Parishes are established by the bishop (not the Lord) to provide pastoral care for the faithful (can. 515), proclamation of the word of God to the unbaptized and unchurched (can. 528.1), and sanctification of the world (can. 528.2 and 529).[/background][background=transparent]
The faithful have a [b]right[/b] to worship according to the proper rituals of the Church (can. 214), the right to apostolic activity (can. 216), the right to Christian education (can. 217), and corresponding [b]obligations[/b]to “assist with the needs of the Church so that the Church has what is necessary for divine worship, for the works of the apostolate and of charity, and for the decent support of its ministers.” (can. 222) and the [b]obligation[/b] to remain in communion (can 209) and be obedient to their pastors (c. 212). By “pastors,” [i]pastores[/i], the Code means bishops, not parish priests.[/background][background=transparent]
These rights and obligations are normally, and properly exercised in parishes, which “as a general rule” are territorial (can. 518), but a bishop can establish parishes “by reason of the rite, language, or nationality of the Christian faithful of some territory or even for some other reason.”[/background][background=transparent]
Now that the big picture is established, let’s look at the specifics.[/background][background=transparent]
What’s missing?[/background][background=transparent]
Any mention of “registration” – something that seems to have been a creation of North American pastors for various reasons.[/background][background=transparent]
[b]Canon law does not recognize any impact of the notion of “registering” in a parish, which is largely unheard of in other parts of the world[/b].[/background][background=transparent]
One becomes a member of a parish in one of [b]two ways[/b]: by where one lives, or by fitting the category the bishop has laid out for a personal parish.[/background][background=transparent]
It is entirely possible for a person to have more than one parish. One might live in St. Ermengild Parish territory, and, by virtue of one’s Cornish nationality, also be a member of St. Tudwal’s-on-the-Slough. If one had a vacation home in Our Lady Queen of Hermits parish, one could even acquire membership in a[i]third[/i] parish, by virtue of quasi-domicile.[/background][background=transparent]
One need not (canonically) register in any parish, unless the bishop has issued particular law requiring this (which has been done in the Diocese of Honolulu).[/background][background=transparent]
Now, lest the pastors (parish priests and bishops!) rise up in anger, there are some very good, practical reasons for registering in a parish.[/background][background=transparent]
First, one gets envelopes, which assists one in fulfilling the serious obligation to provide support.[/background][background=transparent]
Also, one gets “counted,” which can be important when the bishop sits down and attempts to assign the thirty newly ordained priests each year. If St. Winwaloe has 300 registered parishioners, and St. Venantius has 5000 registered, which parish is more likely to get an associate pastor?[/background][background=transparent]
In large parishes, registering gives one a point of connection with the pastor and parish staff.[/background][background=transparent]
Registration also makes the parish secretary (who is usually a sweet person, though less likely to have been trained in the niceties of canon law and not always cognizant of the impact of one’s domicile or quasi-domicile) happy. We should all want to make the parish secretary happy.[/background][background=transparent]
That said, if one has multiple parish memberships – and especially if one partakes regularly in the material benefits of such – going regular to Mass and confession, picking up a bulletin, enjoying the coffee and doughnuts, calling on the assistance of the pastor to bless one’s house, one’s car, one’s herbs (on Assumption, of course) – one has the corresponding obligation to the best of one’s ability to support those multiple parishes.[/background][background=transparent]
It is reasonable (though canon law is mute on this topic) that the percentage of one’s financial support be somehow proportionate both to one’s financial condition, and also to one’s use of a parish’s resources. We are not talking some specific figure or percentage here. We are not dealing with a[i]consumer[/i] good. Still, it is a matter of common sense that if you go to daily Mass six days a week in one parish, confession biweekly in another parish, and Sunday Mass in a third parish, but you only put in an envelope to support my “Sunday parish,” you might need to examine my giving habits.[/background][background=transparent]
Now if one could, technically, be a member of two or more parishes, but one chooses to exclusively use the “services” of one of those parishes, it follows that one’s financial support should be directed toward the parish one attends.[/background][background=transparent]
Those are some guiding points. I hope this helps.[/background]


[/background]

[Papist]

[quote name='Nihil Obstat' timestamp='1346268982' post='2475940']
Canonically speaking, the parish that matters is the one whose territory you live within. Just like how you fall under the diocese's bishop's pastoral care by living within his diocese, you're under the care of the geographical parish priest by living within his parish. That pastor, in theory, has the first responsibility of the care of your soul. At least this is how Phatcatholic's brother explained it to me.
[/quote]
This is the way I understand it as well. That said, I will not be a parishioner of the parish nearest me. Let's just say that the times I have attended mass there, due to no other option, I feel like I have not fulfilled my Sunday obligation.

But registering is how one receives the Herald and tithing envelopes.