Every parish in the Diocese of Lafayette-in-Indiana shall have a Parish Pastoral Council.1 When the Bishop establishes a pastorate consisting of multiple parishes, a single Parish Pastoral Council will be formed for that Pastorate in place of individual Parish Pastoral Councils.

The purpose of the Parish Pastoral Council shall be to engage the people and the pastor/parochial administrator prayerfully in common reflection about the parish’s mission and the ministry, to plan, and to evaluate in light of the Gospel and church teaching

The Parish Pastoral Council shall be responsible for pastoral planning, including periodic reevaluation of the parish mission and vision statement, ongoing needs assessment, defining parish goals, setting broad strategies for implementing those goals, and evaluating the parish’s success in conducting the Church’s mission.

The Parish Pastoral Council shall be composed of members of the parish pastoral staff and members of the parish and shall be presided over by the pastor/parochial administrator. In the instances where a Pastorate has been established, the Pastorate will have a single Parish Pastoral Council comprised of a proportionate number of members of each parish that make up the pastorate

Members of the Parish Pastoral Council shall work together in making decisions (after prayerful discernment, study, and discussion) and advising the pastor/parochial administrator, who has the final responsibility for decision making on the Parish level saving the right of Administrative Recourse.