TEAM MINISTRY (CANON LAW)

The concept of team ministry is a direct outgrowth of Vatican II, which, among its many teachings on the nature of the Church, reshaped the pastoral office of the bishop, the model for all pastoral care, from its exclusive dependence on hierarchical activity to an office carried out in true collaboration with all the people of God. (See Lumen gentium 17, Christus Dominus 30, Apostolicam actuositatem 24.) This vision of collaboration was carried into the 1983 Code of Canon Law and given specific form. Thus, there are important theological and canonical principles behind the concept.

Because the parish is the primary arena for the exercise of pastoral care, parish is likewise the best place to look for models of team ministry. In the broad sense, team ministry is the spirit of collaboration which is intended to exist in any parish, even one with the traditional staffing model of a single pastor, through which all of the faithful understand and discharge their responsibilities as baptized persons for evangelization, catechesis and liturgical participation. The goal for any parish is that no individual is a passive recipient of pastoral care. (See canons 519, 528, 529, 759, 781.)

In a more narrow and highly specific sense, models for team ministry in parishes are found in canon 517 of the 1983 Code. This canon, an innovation in the law, provides for the staffing of parishes in ways which omit the traditional office of pastor and replace that single person with a group of persons or team. The canon distinguishes two basic possibilities: (1) the pastoral care of a parish (or multiple parishes) is entrusted to a group of priests in solidum (as equals) or (2) participation in the pastoral care of a parish is entrusted to one or more non-priests. In the first situation, according to canon 517, one of the priests of the team is named moderator of the group, directs its activities and represents the team before the bishop. However, despite this designation, all priests on the team bear the responsibilities ordinarily assigned to the pastor equally, while fulfilling them under the direction of the moderator (cc. 543, 544). The team must work out for itself how the various responsibilities which each member bears will be executed. The framers of the 1983 Code acknowledged that this arrangement, although not foreseen in the documents of Vatican II and clearly an exception, could be useful "in certain circumstances." The canon, repeating that phrase, does not indicate what any of circumstances might be. Rather, implementation of this configuration of team ministry is left to the judgment of each diocesan bishop.

The second situation of team ministry, as stipulated in c. 517 § 2, is to be implemented only when there is a lack of priests. Under those circumstances, the diocesan bishop may entrust participation in pastoral care to "a deacon, to another person who is not a priest, or to a community of persons." The word "participate" with reference to pastoral care is used designedly in the canon to distinguish between "full" pastoral care, which includes celebration of the sacraments, and the portion of pastoral care which can be made available by those who are not priests.

In this instance of team ministry, again, the parish does not have a pastor, but a priest is assigned to direct pastoral care. For such parishes, the team is composed of the priest-director and whatever persons have been entrusted with participation in pastoral care by the diocesan bishop. The team must work out for itself how its responsibilities will be carried out, how and when the priestdirector will be available to the parish, whether there might be another priest to provide sacramental services, and what functions will be carried out by the non-priests. Establishment of this form of team ministry calls for careful preparation of the parish community both to accept an increased role of leadership from laity or deacons and a diminished role of presence, if not leadership, from the ordained. Official documents issued by the Holy See, especially "Directory for Sunday Celebrations in the Absence of a Priest" issued in 1988 have highlighted these concerns.

Bibliography: j. beal, et al. eds., New Commentary on the Code of Canon Law (Mahwah 2000). l. chiappetta, Il Codice di Diritto Canonico: Commento giuridico-pastorale (Naples 1988). j. renken, "Canonical Issues in the Pastoral Care of Parishes without Priests," The Jurist 47 (1987) 506–521. b. a. cusack and t. g. sullivan, Pastoral Care in Parishes without a Pastor: Applications of C. 517 § 2 (Washington, DC 1995).

[e. rinere]