Guidelines for Receiving Pastoral Ministers in the USA

Canon Law Considerations

The law of the universal Church, as found in the Code of Canon Law ( CIC ) and the Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches (CCEO), provides explicit procedures and helpful principles that are applicable to international clergy, seminarians, and members of institutes of consecrated life and societies of apos tolic life in the United States. For those training for the ordained ministry, for example, the canons state that they are to “have solicitude not only for the par ticular church in whose service they are to be incar dinated but also for the universal Church” (CIC c. 257 §1; cf. CCEO c. 352 §3). Although the codes urge care for all the Churches, they cannot antic ipate the special circumstances and needs of each particular Church. Diocesan or eparchial bishops and major superiors, therefore, are well advised to establish policies and procedures that apply the uni versal canonical norms to the pastoral circumstances of the particular Church or to the ministries and apostolic works of the institute or society. The fol lowing steps should be considered when a particular Church in the United States is considering receiving international pastoral ministers. Determination of an Ecclesial Need A first step is to determine the genuine ecclesial need that is to be met by an international pastoral minis ter. Although clerics, seminarians, and members of institutes or societies might present themselves for diocesan or eparchial service in the United States, the determination of need is always made by the diocesan or eparchial bishop. Likewise, the cleric, seminarian, or other member of an institute or soci ety must have the permission of his or her competent superior for such service. In the case of clerics, the universal law estab lishes further criteria that must be considered by the sending diocesan or eparchial bishop or major supe rior prior to releasing a priest or deacon to exercise ministry in the United States. First, the diocesan or eparchial bishop or major superior should not release the cleric if his presence is truly necessary for the exercise of the mission of his own diocese, eparchy,

institute, or society. 1 Second, the same diocesan or eparchial bishop or major superior should know that the candidate is genuinely suitable, in good health, and sufficiently prepared to exercise the sacred min istry in a particular Church in the United States. Finally, there should be clear indication that there is a “grave lack of clergy” in the receiving Church. This lack may mean a lack of qualified clergy to meet the particular pastoral needs of the receiving Church. When these three criteria have been veri fied, a diocesan or eparchial bishop or major superior is urged by the law of the universal Church not to deny the suitable and qualified candidate’s request to serve elsewhere as an international pastoral minister (CIC c. 271 §1; CCEO c. 361). What might constitute “particular pastoral needs”? They could include such things as the need for clergy or members of institutes or societies to serve the pastoral needs of a growing ethnic group or the faithful of an Eastern Catholic Church sui iuris . Historically, for example, this happened in the United States among German, Irish, Polish, and Italian immigrants as well as Ukrainian, Ruthenian, Maronite, and Melkite Catholics. Today, a similar pastoral need is evident in parts of the United States for Catholics coming from other parts of the world. The canons that govern the movement of clergy from one particular Church to another are rooted in the desire to provide for the good of the Churches (CIC c. 271 §1 ; CCEO c. 361). Clerics cannot claim a right to move to another particular Church for rea sons of family obligations, financial enrichment, or other personal advantage; they belong to a specific diocese, eparchy, institute, or society and have a seri ous obligation of obedience to their diocesan or epar chial bishop or major superior as well as an obligation of service to that diocese, eparchy, institute, or society. Other examples of a genuine ecclesial need for international pastoral ministers may include the following: • An eparchial bishop of an Eastern Catholic Church sui iuris in the United States has need of a priest to provide pastoral care to a growing 1 CIC Canon 271, §1 and CCEO canon 361; See also Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples, “Instruction on the Sending Abroad and Sojourn of Diocesan Priests from Missionary Territories,” April 25, 2001, no. 4.

Canon Law Considerations | B-1