Matrimony & Parish Membership

[Aloysius]

of course, canonically, parish registration has nothing to do with what parish you're in, it's all about the domicile as to which parish's jurisdiction you fall under (as per Cappie's cited canons)... these days there are many situations, mostly in western countries, that have very much blurred the lines here. things like Latin Mass Communities where registration is largely determined non-territorially, for instance... and generally so many people move from place to place and never update their registration.

I don't quite remember if I filled out all the paperwork to change my registration to the Pgh Latin Mass Community or if I'm still registered at a parish near the house where I grew up; but either way I fall under the pastor of the jurisdiction where I make my primary residence... seeing as I'm only here in Belgium for school and the place I'm staying at is a quasi-dorm situation I might still consider my permanent domicile back in PA; but I have not had a domicile without the territorial boundaries of the place I'm registered at for a while so even though I'm registered there, it's not exactly my parish.

before I got off on that tangent the point I was trying to make is that parish registration is a useful tool for people, but your parish and pastor is determined not by the paperwork of registration, it's determined territorially by the place where you make your primary residence. you can certainly get married in parishes outside of that but your territorial pastor should be made aware of this, as he is responsible for all Catholics within his parish territory and should at least be aware when they marry and die and all that, and all the necessary permissions should be either formally or informally obtained based on whatever is customary.

[LouisvilleFan]

Isn't it a tad ironic that most orthodox Catholics largely ignore this territory thing? Certainly the parish of domicile makes sense on a spiritual level, yet it's impractical for tracking records and getting stuff done on the temporal level. If we changed registration with our domicile, parishes simply wouldn't be able to keep up -- and neither would our pastoral relationships. Pastorally and practically, it makes sense to register where you become involved, and for the pastor of that parish to have primary care of your spiritual life.

Speaking of marriage, I'm in the awkward situation of having moved to the Cincinnati area into semi-permanent accomodations until my fiance and I get married. I registered at the second-closest parish in case we might get married there. Turns out we are getting married at a parish near her hometown that isn't her parish either. The awkward part is getting letters of permission: turns out my "parish of domicile" is where I got to know the pastor and now volunteer with religious ed, yet our "parish of matrimony" wants a letter from the "parish of registration," where the pastor doesn't know me at all. Of course, all they do is fill out a form letter and I'm not sure if the pastor even sees it. And if that's not enough, our "parish of matrimony" would like us to become parishioners there. What can you say when you have never known in the past where you would live a year later?

In another turn of irony, I might ask my "pastor of domicile" about celebrating our marriage

Going back to HisChildForever's question, based on what I've learned in the past three months, you might as well register now at the parish you've been attending, just so that bit of paperwork out of the way. Most parish websites have the info about marriage requirements. Nine months is typical. Of course, the more beautiful parishes tend to require more time (one place we checked required a year-and-a-half commitment prior to the ceremony) and the uglier places are more likely to say six months.

[Nihil Obstat]

[quote name='LouisvilleFan' timestamp='1349754562' post='2491528']
Isn't it a tad ironic that most orthodox Catholics largely ignore this territory thing? Certainly the parish of domicile makes sense on a spiritual level, yet it's impractical for tracking records and getting stuff done on the temporal level. If we changed registration with our domicile, parishes simply wouldn't be able to keep up -- and neither would our pastoral relationships. Pastorally and practically, it makes sense to register where you become involved, and for the pastor of that parish to have primary care of your spiritual life.

[/quote]
In my personal opinion the territorial parish concept is becoming more and more irrelevant, at least in western society, and may disappear as a canonical concept in the next couple centuries. That is just wild speculation on my part, but it makes sense in my head.

[LouisvilleFan]

[quote name='Nihil Obstat' timestamp='1349754769' post='2491529']
In my personal opinion the territorial parish concept is becoming more and more irrelevant, at least in western society, and may disappear as a canonical concept in the next couple centuries. That is just wild speculation on my part, but it makes sense in my head.
[/quote]

I think it's already a thing of the past since no priests or bishops enforce it. Yet, I'm not sure if parish territories could ever be removed from canon law. In the event of a global zombie attack or nuclear winter, the Catholic Church will be the only government left standing. Keeping parish territories ensures we're ready to take control on a moment's notice

Yet while we're speculating... maybe all Catholics could simply register with the cathedral (that would eliminate a ton of administrative work!) while allowing for associate membership elsewhere. Or here's a novel idea: modify the pastoral responsibility to give more explicit concern to non-Catholics within the parish over Catholics who are registered/attend other parishes (this idea I like).

[Nihil Obstat]

[quote name='LouisvilleFan' timestamp='1349758496' post='2491548']

I think it's already a thing of the past since no priests or bishops enforce it.[/quote]
It is a thing of the past in most senses. But when it comes to things like marriage it is still relevant canonically. It does not have to be (IMO). But it is simply because it is 'on the books'.

The whole concept makes perfect sense, just not so much in this day and age. Or at least this day and age in the west. I think perhaps it still applies in missionary territories, or places where the Catholic population is very small or spread out... But in terms of our own society, it seems to me that it is more based on the old norm where a family generally went to the same parish, the village parish, essentially from birth to death.