Glossary of Church Terms
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pastoral council.
A parish or (arch)diocesan body that the pastor or
(arch)bishop consults concerning policies and major decisions in the gover-
nance of the local church. Such a council’s role is consultative and always sub-
ject to the final authority of the pastor or bishop.
presbyteral council.
Also known as the
priests’ council
, this is the principal
consultative body mandated by the
Code of Canon Law
to advise the diocesan
bishop in matters of pastoral governance. It consists of bishops and priests
serving the diocese.
presbyterate.
May be a synonym for
priesthood
or may refer to the collective
body of priests of a diocese or similar ecclesiastical jurisdiction.
province.
(1) A grouping of an archdiocese, called the
metropolitan see
, and
the dioceses under it, called
suffragan sees
. The
Code of Canon Law
spells out
certain limited obligations and authority that the metropolitan archbishop has
with respect to the dioceses within his province. (2) A grouping of communi-
ties of a religious order under the jurisdiction of a provincial superior.
religious priest/diocesan priest.
Religious priests
are professed members of
a religious order or institute. Religious clergy live according to the rule of their
respective orders. In pastoral ministry, they are under the jurisdiction of their
local bishop, as well as of the superiors of their order.
Diocesan
, or
secular
,
priests
are under the direction of their local bishop. Most serve in the parishes
of the diocese, but they may also be assigned to other diocesan posts and min-
istries or be released for service outside the diocese.
religious titles before names.
Of course you will follow your own publi-
cation’s style manual for use of religious titles before names. But in general,
Catholics refer to nuns as
Sister
, religious brothers as
Brother
and priests as
Father
, and those religious titles take precedence over whatever job titles they
might hold, such as pastor, chancellor, vicar general, associate pastor, executive
director. The other chief religious titles for clerics are
Msgr.
,
Bishop
,
Archbishop
,
Cardinal
,
Pope
and, for the head of a male monastic community,
Abbot
. For
many members of religious orders, the short version of their order’s name may
precede the religious title:
Mercy Sister Mary Smith
,
Jesuit Father John Smith
,
Benedictine Brother Peter Smith
. In certain cases it may be better to use an
appositive phrase or some other approach:
Sister Janet Smith, a School Sister of
Notre Dame
, rather than
School Sister of Notre Dame Sister Janet Smith
.