The Parish as a Center for Mission - Auspice Maria Ep. 15 with Bishop James Ruggieri
Welcome back to the Auspice Maria podcast. I'm Bishop James Ruggieri of the Diocese of Portland in Maine, and I'm grateful that you're joining me today for this episode entitled The Parish as a Center for Mission.
I would subtitle today's podcast as, “what it means to be a missionary parish and how to foster that identity.”
As always, I want to call upon the Holy Spirit to open our hearts and open our ears and minds to receive what the Lord desires us to receive.
So, come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful and kindle in them the fire of your love. Send forth your spirit and we shall be created and you shall renew the face of the earth. Amen.
This may be a challenging conversation today, but I want to speak candidly—of course always pastorally and with love—about how we understand “parish” in the Church today.
Many of us immediately think of a building when we hear the word “parish.” And yes, buildings do matter. They are places of prayer, memory, and sacramental encounter.
But the deeper truth, confirmed by the Second Vatican Council and also by the law of the Church, Canon Law, is that the parish is not primarily a building. It is a community of people, a community gathered around Christ, shepherded by a pastor in communion with the bishop and sent on mission.
So let’s look at some things together.
First, what Vatican II and canon law actually teach about the parish.
Secondly, how that vision or that presentation of the parish understanding shapes our own personal understanding in 2025 and beyond.
And thirdly, how we can foster truly missionary parishes—parishes that proclaim, create places of encounter, and build the kingdom of God.
So what is a parish? Let’s start with the foundation.
The Second Vatican Council in its document Sacrosanctum Concilium states in section 42:
“Among these groupings of the faithful, the parishes, set up locally under a pastor who takes the place of a bishop, are the most important, for in some sense they represent the visible Church constituted throughout the world.”
Considering this quote, this is quite impactful. The council says: the parish makes the universal Church visible locally. It is the Church, in a real sense, made present in a neighborhood, in a town, among a people.
The document Lumen Gentium, section 28, adds another key point:
“For the most part, indeed, they [priests] exercise their pastoral work in parishes and communities where they make the presence of the Church visible and bring it into operation.”
So according to Lumen Gentium and also Sacrosanctum Concilium, a parish is not simply a voluntary association or a social club. It is the place where the Church becomes visible—through the priest's ministry and through the faith of the people.
The decree on the priesthood, Presbyterorum Ordinis, section 6, gives us another clear definition:
“The parish is a certain community of Christ’s faithful, stably constituted within a particular Church whose pastoral care is entrusted to a parish priest as its proper pastor under the authority of the diocesan bishop.”
Notice again: this document, Presbyterorum Ordinis, is highlighting community. It’s about the community of the faithful, not about the building.
Canon Law picks this up directly in Canon 515. It states in paragraph 1:
“A parish is a certain community of the Christian faithful, stably constituted within a particular Church whose pastoral care is entrusted to a pastor or its proper shepherd under the authority of the diocesan bishop.”
And Canon 518 reminds us:
“As a general rule, a parish is to be territorial, that is, one which includes all the Christian faithful of a certain territory. When it is expedient, however, personal parishes are to be established, determined by reason of the rite, language, or nationality of the Christian faithful of a certain territory, or even for some other reason.”
Finally, highlighting the pastor’s role, Canon 519 says:
“The pastor is the proper shepherd of the parish entrusted to him. He exercises the pastoral care of the community entrusted to him under the authority of the diocesan bishop, in whose ministry of Christ he has been called to share. For this community, he carries out the functions of teaching, sanctifying, and governing with the cooperation of other presbyters or deacons and with the assistance of lay members of Christ's faithful according to the norm of law.”
So here’s the bottom line: according to Vatican II and canon law, the parish is a stable community of faithful under a pastor in communion with the diocesan bishop. It’s about people, faith, and mission—not first about walls and buildings.
So what does this mean for us today in 2025?
For too long, I believe we’ve equated parish with property. We speak about “keeping the parish open” when really we’re talking about keeping a building open. Again, buildings matter, but they are not the essence.
The essence is the community of believers gathered for Eucharist, proclaiming the Word, serving the poor, and living communion with Christ. That is parish.
When we think of parish primarily as a building, we risk falling into maintenance mode—that is, patching roofs, repairing boilers, fighting over property. But when we recover the Council’s vision, we rediscover that parish is about mission.
The decree on the laity, from the Second Vatican Council, section 10, says:
“The parish offers an outstanding example of the apostolate of the laity, for it brings together the diversity of people and inserts them into the universality of the Church.”
This is really quite beautiful. The parish is a living cell of the Church, a place where diversity comes together in unity for the sake of mission.
Canon Law echoes this in Canon 528, paragraph 1:
“The pastor is obliged to ensure that the word of God is proclaimed in its entirety to those living in the parish. He is also to foster works by which the spirit of the Gospel, including its relevance to social justice, is promoted.”
So the parish is not inward-looking. It exists for the sake of mission—for the sake of proclaiming Christ and extending the kingdom.
Now let’s take this vision further: the parish as a center for mission, a center for conversion.
The mission of the Church, as I’ve expounded in other podcasts, is threefold:
· To proclaim the gospel.
· To foster communion with Christ.
· To build the kingdom of God.
Let’s apply that now to the parish.
Proclamation of the Gospel:
Do our parishes proclaim the gospel clearly, joyfully, and with conviction? Do we tell people the Good News—that Christ lived, suffered, died, and rose to give us new life?
Canon 528, paragraph 1, places this obligation of proclamation directly on pastors:
“The pastor is obliged to ensure that the word of God is proclaimed in its entirety to those living in the parish.”
Therefore, a missionary parish is one where people hear and see the gospel lived out.
2. Fostering Communion with Christ / Creating Encounter
Do our parishes create spaces of encounter with Jesus Christ?
The Eucharist, of course, is the heart. But do we foster other opportunities—for example, retreats, adoration, small faith groups, moments where the gospel touches lives personally?
Pope Francis speaks in his writings of the “culture of encounter.”
A missionary parish is one where people don’t just hear about Christ but actually meet him, encounter him—just like Saint Paul. And if we recall what happened to Saint Paul, his encounter with Christ changed his life forever.
3. Building the Kingdom of God
Are we building the kingdom, or are we building something else?
A missionary parish builds a culture of life, of justice, of love and peace. It looks outward, serving the most vulnerable, healing divisions, witnessing to Christ’s mercy.
Again, remember that decree on the laity:
“The parish offers an outstanding example of the apostolate of the laity, for it brings together the diversity of people and inserts them into the universality of the Church.”
This is the crucial question:
Does belonging to the parish—or let’s make it personal, does belonging to my parish—make me a better Christian?
Does participating in the life and community of my parish make me more Christ-like, more loving, more of a self-gift to others?
I could also fairly ask: does it make me more human?
Or does my parish leave me isolated, selfish, even, perhaps, parochial—in the negative sense of that word, meaning territorial and focused only on a small area of diocesan life?
This is the challenge: to move beyond maintenance into mission.
The Second Vatican Council and canon law give us the framework. In summary:
- The parish is a stable community of the faithful.
- It is the visible Church—the universal Church made present locally, particularly.
- It is the place for the Word to be proclaimed, the Eucharist to be celebrated, and the ministry of charity to be exercised.
- It is also the cell of the Church’s apostolate, where diversity is united for mission.
In 2025 and beyond, I sincerely believe we must reclaim this vision of what a parish truly is.
The parish is not just about a building. It’s about people transformed by Christ and sent on mission.
So another question I want to leave you with: Is my parish a place of mission and conversion—or only a place of maintenance?
Let’s pray and work together, pastors and people, to make our parishes true centers of mission—where the gospel is proclaimed courageously with great love, where Christ is encountered, and the kingdom of God is built among us.
Closing Prayer
Thank you again for joining me for this episode of Auspice Maria.
And as always, I pray that Mary, the Mother of the Church, continue to guide our diocese, our parishes, me your bishop, our priests, deacons, and all lay leaders of our parishes to be ever more missionary, ever more faithful, ever more fruitful as we seek to serve the people of God entrusted to us.
I’d like to, as always, conclude by entrusting this podcast to Mary’s maternal care and protection:
Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee.
Blessed art thou amongst women,
and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.
Holy Mary, Mother of God,
pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen.
Amen.
