Parish Pastoral Councils – an Attempt to Renew the Structure Towards a Diaconal Model

Abstract

The theological sense of the Pastoral Council is inscribed in the constitutive reality of the Church, which means that it is the “Body of Christ” that gives birth to a “spirituality of communion.” The fruitful implementation of pastoral care requires the ongoing involvement of both clergy and laity. Parish pastoral councils are an important body supporting the pastoral activity of the Church. The Magisterium of the Church in numerous documents emphasizes the need to activate the laity in the implementation of pastoral ministry. The proposed diaconal model may be a response to the need to overcome the division, which persists in the Church in Poland, between active clergy and passive laity. The activation of the laity, for example, within the framework of the synodal process, requires the transfer of some of the competencies to the laity, within the framework of the received ministries, willing to take responsibility for the Church.