< Back to previous page

Project

The Future of Local Church Structures in Flanders

The parish is the face of the universal Church in and through a specific community of people who profess and celebrate the same faith and support each other as a community of faith. Furthermore, it constitutes a structure that guarantees the exercise of important rights of Christian faithful, such as the right to assistance through the spiritual goods of the church - pastoral guidance - the sacraments... The development of qualitative (parish) structures that can cope with the challenges of our time and form a basis for fertile faith communities is therefore in the interest of all the faithful. This project aims to support ecclesiastical policy makers scientifically and in terms of content in the development of future structures in parishes and dioceses, preferably via a dialogical or synodal route. It aims to develop a set of tools that helps bishops to formulate, question and develop diocesan policy plans. Furthermore, the project aspires to look for criteria that allow correct assessment of the strengths and weaknesses of the policy regarding parishes and to concretize them in harmony with the universal ecclesiastical regulations by means of the designated structures, including the synodal way. Finally, the project aims to formulate church-legal options that form the basis for fruitful faith communities in the current context.

Date:4 Oct 2021 →  3 Nov 2023
Keywords:parish, canon law, particular church, church structures, church governace
Disciplines:Law not elsewhere classified
Project type:PhD project