Fourth Synod Compiled Acts, Declarations and Statutes

in a building separate from the rectory. In those circumstances where the parish offices are in the rectory building, there should be a clear separation as much as possible between the parish office and meeting spaces and the private residential quarters of the priest(s). 17. Lay persons, other than seminarians with the approval of the Director for the Office of Vocations, are not permitted to reside in any rectory, even though they are relatives, unless the Diocesan Bishop has granted a written permission in each case. 18. The Dean is to be informed in the event that overnight guests other than clergy, seminarians and immediate family members will be staying in the rectory or other residence of priests. Minors unaccompanied by at least one of their parents or those who lawfully take their place may not stay in the rectory or other residence of priests, even overnight. 19. It is the local Ordinary’s prerogative to decide in individual cases whether the employment or retention of any staff member may be the cause of scandal or otherwise undesirable, and, if he deem it advisable, to forbid such employment or retention. It is not prudent to have minors working in the rectory or parish office without another adult present in addition to the parish priest(s). c) Clerics shall use prudence in visiting the homes of parishioners and shall avoid situations which may give rise to scandal in the judgment of the local Ordinary. 21. a) As decreed in 1999 by the complementary norm of the United States Conference of Bishops in accord with the prescriptions of canon 284, “clerics are to dress in conformity with their sacred calling. In liturgical rites, clerics shall wear the vesture prescribed in the proper liturgical books. Outside liturgical functions, a black suit and Roman collar are the usual attire for priests. The use of the cassock is at the discretion of the cleric.” In the Diocese of Springfield in Illinois, clerical attire, or, in the case of clerical religious, the religious habit (per c. 669), is the norm for priests in ministerial situations such as when meeting people at the rectory or parish office, in the church and school, as well as when visiting the sick. When outside the rectory, the parish office, the church or the school, priests are to wear black clerical clothes and the Roman collar unless engaged in leisure, athletic or recreational activity. Clerical attire in a color other 20. a) Clerics shall respect proper boundaries with members of either sex. b) Clerics shall abide by diocesan policies and procedures regarding working with minors and vulnerable adults.

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