Following the General Assembly of last year, the PAC appointed a subcommittee to revise and coordinate the French and English versions of the Statutes to make them identical and to adapt them as best possible to Pope John XXIII Parish.
The subcommittee was also asked to prepare By-Laws to implement and clarify the details of certain provisions of the Statutes and set forth procedures for conducting the business of the General Assembly the Parish Administrative Council. These By-Laws were translated into the French “Règlement.”
The Bishop has given his endorsement to these documents, which have also been approved by the PAC and the PPC.
We have for the time being left the red print in the English version of the Statutes to allow you to see where modifications have been made. We have also left the language pertaining to the larger context of the “Unité Pastorale”, which is at the core of the new Statutes, in italics. These will be eliminated in the signed version.
The Introduction to the Statutes and the Glossary should be read in conjunction with the Statutes.
Introduction to Parish Statutes
In establishing new Statutes in 2005, the Bishop and the Vicariate created a new structure for the diocese of Geneva, where all Parishes were grouped into Pastoral Units within which the Bishop named a Curé Modérateur as head and coordinator of pastoral and administrative activities. Within the Pastoral Unit is a Pastoral Team composed of other priests, deacons, paid lay chaplains and voluntary laypersons; a central administrative council; and a Pastoral Council of the Pastoral Unit or sector.
In the case of Geneva, 40% of the Catholic community is composed of immigrants or temporary residents from other countries. The parishes established on a language basis to serve this community are called linguistic parishes. It is the will of the Bishop to eventually incorporate these parishes into the Pastoral Unit concept, but this is still a work in progress and for the moment the Bishop allows linguistic parishes to adopt their own structure based on that of the Pastoral Unit.
Pope John XXIII Parish is affiliated with the Pastoral Unit of Nations/St. Jean and Abbé Alain‐René Arbès, who speaks English and is the “Répondant de la paroisse“ of St. Nicolas de Flüe, is our link with the Bishop through this Pastoral Unit. The Bishop has for the time being permitted certain latitude to Pope John XXIII Parish in its organization. Our Statutes, therefore, deviate slightly from the standard form of Statutes, although we have had to accept them in the main, retaining the language concerning the Pastoral Unit and the councils of the pastoral units and sectors.
We have our own “Curé Modérateur,” our own “councils”, our definition of the “pastoral team”. The By‐Laws, developed this year by a subcommittee of our Parish Administrative Council, amplify and complement the Statutes and deal with the variants appropriate to our own Parish. A Glossary is provided to clarify the various terms appearing in the Statutes.