Folia Theologica et Canonica 9. 31/23 (2020)
Ius canonicum
74 PÉTER ERDŐ church, the parish benefice, and also the group of the faithful who lived in a certain territory.2 Consequently it would be dangerous to apply a precise and exhaustive definition to institutions which, albeit historically related, have taken more or less similar forms in different periods. When speaking of the history of parishes in the first millennium, we must have in mind institutions different to some degree from the modem parish,3 though their role was similar. The typical rural parish in time gone by was the religious, cultural, and even social centre for the people of a village or local area, in a society which was more or less homogeneous from a religious point of view. Developments since the French Revolution that have seen a rapid acceleration in recent decades have presented a challenge to the sociological reality of such traditional parishes. The religious pluralism of western societies and the frequently multicultural and multi-ethnic composition of Catholic communities themselves, as well as the shortage of priests, have led to a practical re-examination of how dioceses are subdivided into parishes; at the same time, they have also prompted theoretical reflection, both theological and canonical, on the function of parishes in the life and mission of the Church.4 For this reason it seems useful to begin the study of this fundamental subject with a historical examination of the origin and spread of the institution in question in order to clarify its functions and the analogous organisational structures which played a similar role in the first eleven centuries of Christianity. A survey of this kind will make it possible to identify not only the fundamental elements necessary for a parish’s 2 Cf. Naz, R., Paroisse, in Naz, R. (ed.), Dictionnaire de droit canonique, I-VII. Paris 1935- 1965. VI. 1234-1248, especially 1234. Vatican II’s emphasis on communio would have a strong influence on the form of the parish as an institution, highlighting its character as a community; cf. e.g., Passicos, J., Le diocese et la paroisse. A théologie renouvelée, structures nouvelles pour d’autres besoinspastoraux, inL’Année Canoniquell (1983) 121-129, especially 122. 127-128. Périsset, J.-C., La paroisse. Commentaire des Canons 515-572 (Le Nouveau Droit Ecclésial. Commentaire du Code de Droit Canonique), Paris 1989. 30. Coccopalmerio, F., De paroecia, Roma 1991. 1-21. 3 The diversity of “legal configurations” of this institution in the course of history is underlined by Longhitano, A., Laparrocchia fra storia, teológia e diritto, in Longhitano, A. - Coccopalmerio, F. - Bonicelli, C. - Mogavero, D. - Urso, P. (a cura di), La parrocchia e le sue strutture (II Codice del Vaticano II), Bologna 1987. 5-27, especially 23. 4 On the discussion of the question see e.g., Mercator, P. (ed.), La fin des paroisses? Recompositions des communautés, aménagement des espaces, Paris 1997. Borras, A., Remodelage paroissiale: un impératif canonique et une urgence pastorale, in Routhier, G. - Borras, A. (ed.), Paroisses et ministére. Metamorphoses du paysage paroissial et avenir de la mission, Paris-Montréal 2001. 43-195. Borras, A., La paroisse et au delei, in Études 402, n. 6 (2005) 783-793. Bressan, L., La Parrocchia oggi. Identitä, trasformazioni, sfide, Bologna 2004. Aubrun, M., La paroisse en France, des origines au XV siede, Paris 2008.2 Bobineau, O. - Borras, A. - Bressan, L., Balayer la paroisse? Une institution catholique qui traverse le temps, Paris 2010. Borras, A. - Vincent, C., L’avenir de la paroisse, Paris 2012. White, M. - Corcoran, T., Rebuilt: Awakening the Faithful, Reaching the Lost and Making Church Matter, Notre Dame, IN, 2013. Bonzon, A. - Guignet, Ph. - Venard, M., La paroisse urbaine: du Moyen Age ä nos jours, Paris 2014.
