A deontological codification of the parish priest’s ministry?

Abstract

The ‘unusual’ approach of the proposal of a deontology in the accompaniment

of the pastoral ministry of the parish priest is to a large extent based on the non-professional nature of the ecclesiastical office. Fortunately, a perception of discipline as a style or way of life, resulting from the integration of ethics specific to a certain area of life, serves as a basis for its application to ecclesial ministries in general, and thereby to that of the parish priest. The question deserves to be explored further in a Church that is plagued by the increasingly perceptible weakness of its pastors. Thinking of a deontology for parish priests is certainly not equivalent to a secularization of the ministry, nor to a desire for uniformity. Nor is its possible codification in the context of the particular Churches, the promotion of an ill-intended legalism. It is only a matter of giving prevalence to an ethic which encompasses the good deployment of the pastoral ministry of the parish priest, so that it may be objectively appreciated in the dynamics of the Church’s missionary action.