A parish is a community of Christians belonging to the Catholic Church who identify with a specific territory. This means that it refers to Christians who live in a certain territory and who are organized there for religious tasks and the reception of the sacraments.
Parishes are generally represented by a concrete building where these Christians meet; this fact generally refers to said building by the term in question. As responsible for the activities that a parish must carry out, a priest is appointed who receives the appointment of pastor. Parishes depend on a particular diocese under the pastoral authority of a bishop.
The role of the pastor of a parish will be to organize the activities of the parish so that services are offered to the community, that catechesis is taught and that there is always a distribution of the sacraments. In general, the parish priest is assisted by other priests who are in charge, although this circumstance depends a lot on the number of people that make up the community. In the parishes there are also various social and inclusive activities, although, of course, these are not their main purpose; as a complement they are also often vehicles of assistance to people in need.
Despite the aforementioned territorial character of a parish, the existence of parishes under other concepts is also possible, parishes that of course constitute an exception. In this order of things, they are built according to a certain activity, such as the university field. Parishes that have these characteristics take into account the particularities of the members of their community, as a way of making the Gospel present itself in a specific context. In them the same objectives are fulfilled as in an ordinary parish, the sacraments being the center of community life.
It is the smallest political division of the national territory. There are two types of parishes: parishes that are within the city limits are called urban, those outside the city are called rural.
The main authorities of the parishes are: The Parish Board and the Political Lieutenant.
The political lieutenant is the first civil authority of the parish.
The public offices of the parish are: political tenure, civil registry, mail, telephones and telegraphs.
The Political Lieutenant has the following obligations:
- Comply with and enforce superior orders.
- Guarantee the safety of people.
- Protect especially indigenous peoples.
- Ensure good maintenance of streets and highways.
- Inform the Municipality about the progress of the Parish Board.
- But the Political Lieutenant is also a judge of his parish.
- It imposes fines on settlers when, for example: The weights, measures and quality of the items have been altered.
- The Political Lieutenant is also a Police Commissioner.
