In the midst of the changes of the society that are reflected in the parish pastoral care, the Congregation for the Clergy issued an instruction The Pastoral Conversion of the Parish Community in the Service of the Evangelizing Mission of the Church in July 2020. This article provides a canonical analysis of its provisions.
In addition to the summary of the current legislation, the instruction also provides explanatory comments on some provisions of the canons of the Code of Canon Law or instructions for their implementation. To this end, as an innovation supporting pastoral care, the instruction offers bishops new possibilities for the reform of external structures associating several parishes or district vicariates.
This article therefore provides an overview of everything new (beyond the current canon law regulation) that this instruction contains.