The timely and practical book traces the parish pastoral council back to the Decree on Bishops (no. 27). It concedes that the decree recommended pastoral councils only at the diocesan level. They were permitted at the parish level in 1973, however, and written into law in 1983. Subsequent Vatican documents have confirmed this “pastoral” ideal—namely, that the pastoral council serves the pastor’s apostolate by helping him plan for the parish’s future.

The book begins with a “pre-test” to assess the reader’s pastoral council IQ. Chapters 2-7 depict actual councils that illustrate the “pastoral” ideal. They show how councils work with other groups in the parish, how they select members, and how they express their own spirituality. Chapters 8-13 trace the development of the ideal in the documents of Vatican II and subsequent publications. Although not all Vatican documents treat the pastoral council in the same way, the publications of 2002 and 2004 confirm its origin in the 1965 Decree on Bishops. Here is a must-read for parish pastoral council members and their pastors.

The final chapter argues that parish councils can become more pastoral by understanding the Church’s vision of ecclesial consultation and by participating in the pastor’s apostolate.
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