ISSN 1789-8919
e-ISSN 2786-1562
The Second Vatican Council and subsequent documents, in view of the pastoral challenges, strongly recommend the establishment of a pastoral council in the dioceses, in which mainly the laity should be involved. The role of the council is to
raise and discuss issues related to pastoral work and to reach practical conclusions.
There was also a great need at the parish level for the establishment of a pastoral council, the task and competence of which were similar to that of the diocesan pastoral council. Current magisterial declarations also urge the conversion of parish
communities, in which the pastoral council has a significant role to play.
An examination of the diocesan and parish pastoral advisory bodies raises the question of whether the legal structure of the pastoral council at these two levels shows only an analogous or rather deeper theological connection. Do these councils
have a theological basis formulated by the Council? What impact does the particular mission of the faithful arising from the universal priesthood have on emphasizing representation, and is this sufficiently reflected in the legislation pertaining these
councils? Should the question of the relationship between the bishop and his commissioned cleric and the members of the council be examined on the basis of the centralization or decentralization of power, or should we rather start from the reality
of the theological structure of communio?
The examination of the theological and legal basis of pastoral councils provides answers to the questions formulated above, as well as to present the Hungarian peculiarity which is also a special feature in international law, that is, the Parish
Board of Representatives which performs the task of the parish pastoral council.
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