Presbyteral Council

The Archdiocese of Portland Presbyteral Council is a body of priests who assist the archbishop in governing the archdiocese.

The 1983 Code of Canon Law mandates that presbyteral councils exist in each diocese “to aid the bishop in the governance of the diocese according to the norm of the law, in order that the pastoral welfare of the portion of the people of God entrusted to him may be promoted as effectively as possible.”

The Lord Jesus has provided continually for the care of the Church through the apostolic succession of bishops. “By divine institution bishops have succeeded to the place of the apostles as shepherds of the Church” (LG 20), charged “to attend to the whole flock in which the Holy Spirit placed them to shepherd the Church of God”.