PARISH PASTORAL COUNCIL

Rekindling of Our Baptismal Call invites each Catholic to reflect on and determine how he or she might contribute to this carrying of God's Kingdom into the family, parish, work place and community. In the parish, an important opportunity to express this baptismal call and responsibility is created through the formation of parish pastoral councils. Cardinal Bevilacqua, accepting the recommendation of the Archdiocesan Advisory Committee on Renewal, has mandated that every parish have a Pastoral Council through which to foster participation of the entire parish--clergy, religious, laity--in its pastoral life and mission. The formation and use of Pastoral Councils is a crucial initial step in renewal of parish life. Parish Pastoral Councils offer the parish a vehicle through which the pastoral mission and life of the parish can be reviewed, reorganized, and renewed to meet the changing challenges of the Church in carrying out Jesus' mission in the third millennium.