HIGHLIGHTS

Diocesan Pastoral Council Meeting – October, 2004

According to Church law (Canon 511),

   “In each diocese, to the extent that pastoral circumstances recommend it, a  pastoral council is to be established whose responsibility it is to investigate  under the authority of the bishop all those things which pertain to pastoral  works, to ponder them and to propose practical conclusions about them.”

Membership of the Diocesan Pastoral Council is comprised of representatives from diocesan councils and committees, and two representatives from each region, who meet five times each year with the bishop.

October Agenda Discussion

• The Officers for the 2004-2005 Council year were elected: Dolores Berg of Sanborn will continue as Chair; Paulette Svoboda of Olivia, Vice-Chair; Wayne Carlson will serve as Secretary.
  

• Surveys on the 50 th anniversary of the Diocese from parishes and diocesan groups were reviewed. The observance of the anniversary in 2007 should be a time for looking back, a time for looking ahead to the future, and a time to celebrate the present. The surveys suggested that there should be three regional celebrations during the year with the final one in New Ulm. There were a number of suggestions that the observance should include some formational/educational dimension but not in a program format. The Council will continue the anniversary planning at the next meeting and examine how other small dioceses have observed their significant anniversaries.

• There was discussion about a USCCB (United States Conference of Catholic Bishops) Committee on the Laity study of Diocesan and Parish Pastoral Councils. Of the 195 dioceses in the country, 111 submitted responses. The study revealed that 60% have a diocesan pastoral council and 85% of their parishes have pastoral councils. These numbers have increased substantially from a previous study in 1997. Members commented that the study confirmed that most other dioceses and parishes are also seeking to work together more collaboratively.

• The diocesan Quinquennial Report summary was reviewed (the summary is included in this issue’s special pullout section). In general, there were favorable comments for the report. Members noted the decreases in the number of priests and sisters, the decreasing number of marriages, and a drop in Sunday Mass attendance. The members discussed the need to address some of these downward trends in sacramental reception.

• The Council continued its discussion of the Executive Summary of a Report to the Diocese of New Ulm by consultants from the National Association for Lay Ministry. An on-site visit was conducted in September of 2003. The report contains over seventy-five recommendations. The members were divided into three groups to prioritize the recommendations and to create an implementation plan. The project will be continued at the December meeting.

• A discussion of Pope John Paul II’s document on the laity, Christifideles Laici, continued. The Council will be studying chapters from the document during the year. They also plan to review the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops’ document, Called and Gifted for the Third Millennium.