Registering at the parish?

[Daniel]

Is parish registration mandatory or is it optional? What exactly is the point? I'm pretty sure that you can't be baptized/confirmed/married in a parish unless you're registered there, but is that all? Or is there some other reason why we should register?


Also, what are the rules concerning going to Mass at other parishes? I thought I'd heard before that you are supposed to go only to your own parish (or maybe diocese?) except when you're traveling and can't help it. But most trads seem to go to a distant parish on a regular basis. Just making sure, but this is legal, right?

[Gardener]

Registered parishioners are who is meant when the Mass intention is "Pro Populo", so it gives you a greater measure of graces when registered.

Canonically, it is an act by which one places themselves under the authority of, and therefore obedience to, the Pastor -- a spiritually good thing.

I seem to recall something about the issue of registration (or at least membership) being geographically based, but I think it was based on 1917 code and not 1983? I cannot recall. Someone else will have to answer that. However, while we must be careful of not engaging in a cult of personality, there is still a reality that most Diocesan parishes are unfortunately not a good place to go.

------

However, when doing a quick search of "parish registration canon law", I found several links which debunk everything I said:

http://canonlawmadeeasy.com/2008/04/11/parish-registration/
https://www.osv.com/OSVNewsweekly/ByIssue/Article/TabId/735/ArtMID/13636/ArticleID/7656/Parish-boundaries.aspx
https://www.ewtn.com/library/ANSWERS/REGISTER.HTM
http://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG1104/_P1U.HTM

So everything I said may be an urban legend, or based on 1917, or is a "yes and no" situation.

For example, Canon 516 §1 might apply to Traditional Catholics quite easily insofar as liturgical and paraliturgical spirituality go. I'd argue this would be the case.

[Jacob]

Father Z covers this now and then at his blog.

Parish registration is all about fundraising (sending out collection envelopes, etc.), parish newsletters, and so on.  And that's it.

You are a member of your parish by the fact you live within its boundaries.

You can receive Communion and Confession at any church in communion with Rome.

[Gardener]

Father Z covers this now and then at his blog.

Parish registration is all about fundraising (sending out collection envelopes, etc.), parish newsletters, and so on.  And that's it.

You are a member of your parish by the fact you live within its boundaries.

You can receive Communion and Confession at any church in communion with Rome.

Which, despite the frothing of certain camps, includes the SSPX.

[St.Justin]

It all starts with Jurisdiction (Faculties). Jurisdiction is territorial. At the Diocesian level which is territorial everyone who lives in the bishop's diocese is under his Jurisdiction. At the Parish level which is also territorial everyone is by law under the Jurisdiction of the Parish Priest of that Parish whose boundaries he lives in.

[Traditionallyruralmom]

With the crazy Catholic world we live in right now, lucky is the man who can register at their local parish and call it good and done.  I am registered, but its only in case someone dies so I can use the cemetery!  I go to 4 different Masses, depending on different circumstances.  If we have had one too many "St John Paul the Great of happy memory" sermons at our local diocese TLM, we disappear to the SSPX to get our sanity back. Sometimes we go into the city for the TLM there, because they have donuts after mass  .  Once in a while to the amazingly beautiful shrine nearby that has a TLM for one of their masses.

Regarding fundraising,  My diocesan annual appeal $ is in NO WAY going to my diocese...I gave that money to the SSPX priestly formation house for Novus Ordo crossover priests who are being trained.  My World Mission Sunday (today in NO land) $$ is going to the SSPX mission in India....If I give any $ to our local diocese TLM, it is in the form of gas cards thrown in the collection plate for father to use at the local gas station.  He is a good enough egg, so I am happy to help him bring communion to the homebound and go to the hospital to give extreme unction. 

[drummerboy]

Registered parishioners are who is meant when the Mass intention is "Pro Populo", so it gives you a greater measure of graces when registered.

Canonically, it is an act by which one places themselves under the authority of, and therefore obedience to, the Pastor -- a spiritually good thing.

I seem to recall something about the issue of registration (or at least membership) being geographically based, but I think it was based on 1917 code and not 1983? I cannot recall. Someone else will have to answer that. However, while we must be careful of not engaging in a cult of personality, there is still a reality that most Diocesan parishes are unfortunately not a good place to go.

------

However, when doing a quick search of "parish registration canon law", I found several links which debunk everything I said:

http://canonlawmadeeasy.com/2008/04/11/parish-registration/
https://www.osv.com/OSVNewsweekly/ByIssue/Article/TabId/735/ArtMID/13636/ArticleID/7656/Parish-boundaries.aspx
https://www.ewtn.com/library/ANSWERS/REGISTER.HTM
http://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG1104/_P1U.HTM

So everything I said may be an urban legend, or based on 1917, or is a "yes and no" situation.

For example, Canon 516 §1 might apply to Traditional Catholics quite easily insofar as liturgical and paraliturgical spirituality go. I'd argue this would be the case.

And (at least in WI) they were built appx. 7 miles apart so parishioners wouldn't have to walk more than 3 1/2 miles to Mass

[JesusIsGod]

There is no need to register.

[The Harlequin King]

Parishes exist to serve the people within its boundaries, not for lay Catholics to feel beholden to it like serfs. In other words, you have a canonical right to receive the sacraments at your geographic parish (the one whose lines on a map your residence falls within), but you don't have to be exclusive. You may fulfill your Mass obligation at any Catholic church, including Eastern rites.

Parish registration may, however, be necessary if you wish to receive sacraments like baptism, confirmation, or marriage, as you say. Also, if you regularly attend a parish that's worth supporting, I certainly do recommend registering and going all the way: supporting it with monetary pledges, volunteering on councils, altar serving, and so on. Just because one legally can treat a parish like a sacrament factory doesn't necessarily mean one should.

[JesusIsGod]

You can get baptized outside of your geographic region.

Peace

[Miriam_M]

I am registered in a parish that is not the one the diocese says I belong to -- one only slightly closer to my home than this one.  I am not alone.  Many people are registered in this parish but do not live within its designated boundaries.

[King Wenceslas]

Definitely sign up. Then they know where you live. Then you can sweat bullets when everything falls apart and you lay in bed wondering who has the parish enrollment records and what they are going to do with them.

Because remember this is just a small little bump in the road we are going through here. (Repeat every day for mental peace)

[QuaeriteDominum]

I am the sacristan at our (SSPX) church and we definitely encourage registration. We frequently send out last minute changes to Mass schedules and parish notices via email or by phone contact if necessary. For the Sacraments (First Communion, Baptism, Confirmation, Marriage), you can't just show up and ask for these, with the exception of Extreme Unction.  If you need a recommendation to function as a Godparent for a Baptism, you won't get one unless you are registered (known to the Pastor).