PRIESTLY RESIDENCE: Model Policy For Use By Parishes
- Prior to a priest permitting a long-term non-cleric resident to stay in our Parish Rectory, the Pastor or Parochial Administrator must notify our Parish Board of Trustees in writing.[1]
- No person may reside or stay overnight at the Parish Rectory if to do so would have the appearance of, or give rise to, scandal under Canon Law.[2]
- Minors, unless they are relatives of one of the assigned residents, are not permitted to stay overnight in the rectory. Minors may never share the same sleeping room with a priest, transitional deacon or seminarian.
- Rectory residents, including assigned clerics, are responsible for paying their share for damage caused by themselves, their pets and visitors.
Definitions. For the purpose of this policy only:
“Rectory” shall mean the parish owned or rented residence designated for occupancy by the pastor or other priests.
“Parish” shall mean the ecclesiastical community of the faithful that is established as a juridic person under the authority of the Archbishop, and which is incorporated as a church corporation under MN Statute §315.15.
“Long-Term” shall mean residents whose stay at the rectory exceeds two weeks.
[1] See Settlement Agreement dated December 12, 2015 between the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis and Ramsey County Attorney. Ramsey County District Court File No.: 62-JV-15-1674; County Attorney File No.: 2138749. “The Archdiocese shall develop a model policy for use by Parishes requiring notification to the board of trustees of a Parish where clergy are permitting long-term residents in rectories. The Archbishop shall request that the Parish board of trustees adopt the model policy.”
[2] See 1983 Code of Canon Law, Canon 277.
