Guide to Ongoing Formation for Priests

APPENDIX D: BOUNDARY EDUCATION | 121

to include an honest assessment of the dangers of living chastely as celibate priests in a culture of easy and anonymous sexual contact—including behav iors that might be limited to digital settings.

BOUNDARIES IN THE PHYSICAL ENVIRONMENT

311. The demands of ministry in the current context of heightened concern for boundaries between adults, as well as ongoing concern for the protection of minors, require serious conversations about the physical layout of parish offices, confessionals, and clergy residences. This concern may be less a matter of boundary education and more a need for consulta tion with and awareness on the part of pastors. For example, many recto ries lack a clear delineation between the priests’ living quarters, the parish offices, and staff-accessible areas such as lounges or kitchens. For the sake of priests’ privacy and a safe workplace, it is best to have clear boundaries within the rectory or office space. The confessional and any other place where priests meet with individuals also need careful consideration. 224 Pastors need to give thought to clearly setting expectations about guests in rectories and about access to the private living quarters of individual priests. While the form varies from state to state, most US parishes have some kind of corporate structure in civil law. Canon law provides a similar juridical status as well as certain structures of consultation and approval for administrative and pastoral purposes. In the current environment of inten sified scrutiny of the administration of parishes, dioceses, and eparchies, pastors must have proper formation in the expectations of civil law and canon law for consultation and accountability in administering the parish. Important considerations also relate to finance. Programming for ongoing formation needs to address the boundaries between the personal finances of the priest or pastor and the funds intended for the parish or related ministries. 225 When hiring or selecting contractors, pastors need ethical guidance concerning conflicts of interest for themselves and any other PROFESSIONAL AND FINANCIAL BOUNDARIES 312.

224 See USCCB, “Complementary Norm to Canon 964 §2—The Confessional,” October 20, 2000, www.usccb.org/ committees/canonical-affairs-church-governance/complementary-norms#tab—canon-964-%C2%A72-the-confessional . 225 See, for example, CIC, cc. 531 and 1267.