AUSTRALIA
Zenit
The Removal and Transfer of a Parish Priest
By Auxiliary Bishop Julian Porteous
Sydney
Theological and pastoral considerations
At first glance, the theme of the removal and transfer of a parish priest does not seem to pertain to the service of the parish priest. How can removing him from his pastoral office serve him?
However, the relevant canons (1740-1752) must be understood and applied against the wider theological and pastoral reality of the proper relationship between the diocesan bishop and the parish priest. I will now develop some important aspects of this relationship, drawing on the documents of the Second Vatican Council and the 2003 postsynodal apostolic exhortation of John Paul II, "Pastores Gregis."
Following the teaching of Vatican II, a diocese is rightly described in terms of relationships. The relationships that concern us here are those between the diocesan bishop, parish priests and the people entrusted to their pastoral care.
A diocese is "a community of the faithful entrusted to the pastoral care of the diocesan bishop, with the help of priests" ("Christus Dominus," 11; see also "Pastores Gregis," 47, and Canon 369). The relationship between the diocesan bishop and his priests is at the service of the faithful. Bishops and priests together share in the pastoral care of the Christ's faithful and must collaborate for the good of souls.