TUCSON (AZ)
Yuma Sun
BY PAIGE LAUREN DEINER, SUN STAFF WRITER
Jan 14, 2006, 9:04 pm
The 74 parishes within the Diocese of Tucson may be becoming their own corporate entities, but the church experience for parishioners will remain unchanged.
INCORPORATION PAPERS have been filed with Arizona that will make the Immaculate Conception Catholic Church its own parish. The move by the Diocese of Tucson was a legal one as part of the parish reorganization plan, said Bishop Gerald Kicanas. PHOTO BY JACOB LOPEZ/THE SUN
"People won't experience any change," Bishop Gerald Kicanas said. "It's a legal procedure like changing the legal ownership of a house."
He said if a house changes from one landlord to another the lives of the renters aren't changed. The house still looks the same, and renters still partake in everyday activities within the house, but there may be minor changes like the signing of a new lease.
In the case of the parishes within the diocese, the change is that a board of directors, comprised of the pastor and two lay people, will be created. This board will oversee the running of the parish, but the pastor will still have the final say.
"The pastor and the two lay volunteers share in the leadership of the church," Kicanas said.