The Work of the Tarnow Diocese Presbyteral Council under Bishop Życiński between 1990 and 1997

Abstract

The Code of Canon Law gives the definition of a presbyteral council and declares: „In each diocese a presbyteral council is to be established, that is, a group of priests which, representing the presbyterium, is to be like a senate of the bishop and which assists the bishop in the governance of the diocese according to the norm of law to promote as much as possible the pastoral good of the portion of the people of God entrusted to him”. The Fourth Synod of Tarnow Diocese reminds that a Diocese Presbyteral Council is as if the bishop’s senate with its own statues; a team of priests representing all clergy of the diocese, both diocesan and from religious orders. During the time when the diocese was led by bishop Życiński, there have been two terms of the Presbyteral Council with elections in 1990 and 1995. The article analyses the topics debated over by the Presbyteral Council between 1990 and 1997. Some of the following items were on the Council’s agenda: priests’ retirement age, spiritual formation of the lay members of the church, missions.