Parochial Administrator

When a parish becomes vacant, or when its pastor cannot exercise pastoral office because of captivity, exile, incapacity, ill health, or another cause, the diocesan bishop is to appoint a parochial administrator as soon as possible. Under both Latin and Eastern law, the administrator must be a priest and takes the pastor's place subject to the governing canon.

Before that appointment, Latin law gives provisional governance to the parochial vicar senior by appointment or, if there is no vicar, to the pastor designated by particular law. Eastern law instead selects the vicar senior in priestly ordination or, if there is none, the nearest pastor. The interim caretaker must inform the competent bishop immediately and does not become administrator merely by assuming emergency governance.^[1]

Unless the diocesan bishop provides otherwise, the administrator has the same rights and duties as a pastor. He must provide ordinary pastoral care, represent the parish, administer goods faithfully, preserve records, and observe the obligations attached to the office. The temporary character of the assignment does not make his lawful governance optional for clergy or faithful.^[2]

At the same time, he may do nothing that prejudices the absent pastor's rights or harms parish goods. When the assignment ends, he renders an account to the pastor. The administrator is distinct from a diocesan administrator, who governs a vacant diocese, and from a layperson or deacon entrusted with participation in pastoral care under canon 517 §2.

The 2020 instruction on parish life rejects using the administrator's office for an extended period, beyond a year, or permanently in order to avoid appointing a pastor. Genuine circumstances can require temporary administration, but the office must not be turned into a device for evading the canonical stability and accountability proper to a pastor's appointment.^[3]