Fourth Synod Compiled Acts, Declarations and Statutes

36. The Dean will generally be appointed to act as the official delegate of the local Ordinary in the absence of the Diocesan Bishop or the Vicar General for the canonical installation within his deanery of a pastor appointed from the diocesan or religious clergy. 37. The Dean will promptly notify the local Ordinary of the serious illness or death of a priest. Until other provisions are made by the local Ordinary, the Dean will serve as parochial administrator of a parish left vacant by the death of a pastor or whose pastor is impeded by incapacity or serious illness. Funeral arrangements will be made by the Dean for deceased priests of the deanery subject to the local Ordinary. 38. a) A pastor appointed from the diocesan clergy assumes canonical possession of his parish by exercising his ministry beginning on the date indicated in his letter of appointment. A religious, who is appointed pastor by the Diocesan Bishop on presentation by his proper religious Superior, assumes canonical possession of his parish by exercising his ministry beginning on the date indicated in his letter of appointment. b) In accordance with the Code of Canon Law , equivalent to a pastor is a parochial administrator, who has the same duties and rights as a pastor, unless the law or the Diocesan Bishop establishes otherwise. 40. Whenever a pastor is to be absent from his parish for more than a week, he must notify the local Ordinary, provide his contact information where he can be reached in case of emergency, and arrange for a substitute approved by the local Ordinary. 34 41. A pastor shall not be absent from the rectory overnight without notifying the Dean of his contact information in case of emergency. If the pastor is also the Dean (Vicar Forane), then he shall notify the local Ordinary of his contact information in case of emergency. The weekly free day of the pastor is understood to include permission for overnight absence from the rectory, with A RTICLE 2. P ASTORS 39. Pastors shall be available for parochial duties at all times, except during vacation or illness or on the free day once each week.

34 Cf. c. 533, §§2-3.

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