Holy Eucharist Parish

This past week I have received a number of pieces of correspondence from parishioners asking about the recently released document from the Vatican regarding the Church in the world. Perhaps many of you have seen the headlines in the Winnipeg Free Press, or the National Post, or at the website of CBC; headlines such as: “The Roman Catholic Church is the only true Church, says Vatican” (this one appeared on the CBC website on July 10, 2007). The news articles may have stated that the Roman Catholic Church has entered into a new state of pompousness in claiming that it is the only church that can actually call itself a church. Unfortunately, and as usual, the secular media has misreported the document from Rome and mixed in its own biases ultimately creating something very confused.

In order to set the record straight, and to use this as a teaching moment for us all, I want to go over the document simply and to dispel some of the confusion. In the first place, the document in question is, Responses to Some Questions Regarding Certain Aspects of the Doctrine on the Church. It was released on July 10, 2007 by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. This Congregation often makes statements and/or clarifications on doctrinal statements and writings. This particular statement answers five questions and clarifies a specific term that was laid down 43 years ago at the Second Vatican Council in the document Lumen Gentium. The term in question is this: The Church of Christ that He established, “constituted and organized in this world as a society, subsists in the Catholic Church.”

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Over the last two years, it has become apparent to many members of the Parish Council that our own established bylaws and policies need to be updated. With the release of the Archeparchial Parish Pastoral Council Guidelines (PPCG) last December and approved by the Metropolitan, we find this a perfect opportunity to accomplish this task. However, in an attempt to be prudent, and following the counsel of our own spiritual father, we find it necessary to develop a Parish Mission Statement that will try to answer the question, “Why are we a parish?” Read the rest of this entry »