In a Roman Catholic parish, the same person can be both a priest and a pastor. Priest identifies an ordained ministry. In the English translation of Latin Catholic canon law, pastor names the office of the priest entrusted with a parish. In the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, a congregation’s pastor is an ordained minister of Word and Sacrament. The meaning of either title depends on the church using it. Code of Canon Law, canons 519, 521, 529 and 545–546 · ELCA, Policies and Procedures for Roster Management
When a Catholic priest is also a pastor
Under canon 521, the person appointed as pastor must already be a priest. Canon 519 places the pastor’s care for a parish under the authority of the diocesan bishop. The office includes teaching, overseeing the parish’s life and providing for worship and the sacraments, with help from other clergy and lay people. Canon 529 gives concrete examples of that care. The pastor is expected to know the parishioners, visit families and attend to people who are ill, lonely or in difficulty. Code of Canon Law, canons 519, 521, 529 and 545–546
Another priest in the same parish might be a parochial vicar, sometimes called an associate pastor. Canon law describes the vicar as a fellow worker who assists with the parish’s pastoral ministry under the pastor’s authority. Both men are priests and both may care for parishioners. The priest appointed as pastor has responsibility for the parish as a whole. The distinction concerns the office each holds, even when both celebrate Mass and visit the sick. Code of Canon Law, canons 519, 521, 529 and 545–546 · Code of Canon Law, canons 899–900
What priestly ordination means for Catholic worship
Canon law ties the celebration of the Eucharist to priestly ordination. A priest can celebrate Mass without holding the office of pastor. The sacrament of penance illustrates a further distinction. A priest must also have the authority, called a faculty in canon law, to give sacramental absolution to the faithful concerned. The two examples separate ordination, the responsibilities attached to a parish and the authority to act in a particular setting. Code of Canon Law, canons 899–900 · Code of Canon Law, canons 965–966
What a Lutheran church means by pastor
In the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, the church’s roster policies reproduce its constitutional description of ordained ministers of Word and Sacrament. Their duties include preaching, administering the sacraments, leading public worship and giving pastoral care. A pastor with a congregational call has additional responsibilities in that congregation, such as teaching, visiting the sick, conducting funerals and working with the congregation council. The denomination’s own language brings sacramental ministry and care for the congregation together. ELCA, Policies and Procedures for Roster Management
A Catholic pastor and an ELCA pastor may both preach, preside at worship and visit people in hospital. The same duties fit into different forms of church organisation. In the Catholic example the parish office is entrusted to a priest under the bishop. In the ELCA example the congregation is served by an ordained minister of Word and Sacrament with a congregational call. Code of Canon Law, canons 519, 521, 529 and 545–546 · ELCA, Policies and Procedures for Roster Management
Conclusion
In Latin Catholic usage, priest tells you how someone is ordained and pastor tells you who has been entrusted with the parish. In the ELCA, pastor is used for an ordained minister whose work includes preaching, sacraments and pastoral care. To understand a title on a church notice or in conversation, start with the denomination and the responsibility the person holds there.
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