Father Jean-Luc Gebelin leads a cluster of parishes in a large rural area of the Diocese of Nîmes in Southern France. He explained to Mélinée Le Priol how he embraced a more collaborative view of ministry and being Church through the parish missions carried out by visiting religious order priests. La Croix: Your parish extends Read more
Today the most common experience of church and Christian community is in a parish. In many dioceses and archdioceses, parishes are being clustered into pastoral areas,2 and often the number of Masses in these pastoral areas is being rationalised and timed so that it is easier for neighbouring priests to celebrate Masses in the other Read more
I am frustrated by the Vatican’s recent instruction on “The pastoral conversion of the parish community in the service of the evangelizing mission of the church,” issued on July 20. At first, the document evokes an expansive vision of parish transformation by citing Pope Francis’ call for “creativity” in “seeking how best to proclaim the Read more