It has been suggested that Cure of souls be merged into this article or section. (Discuss) Proposed since March 2011.

For the "Regulae liber pastoralis" of Gregory I, see Pastoral Care

Pastoral care is the ministry of care and counseling provided by pastors, chaplains and other religious leaders to members of their church or congregation, or to persons of all faiths and none within institutional settings. This can range anywhere from home visitation to formal counseling provided by pastors who are licensed to offer counseling services. This is also frequently referred to as spiritual care.

'Pastoral care' is also a term applied where people offer help and caring to others in their church or wider community. Pastoral care in this sense can be applied to listening, supporting, encouraging and befriending.

Pastoral care can also be a term generally applied to the practice of looking after the personal and social wellbeing of children or students under the care of a teacher. It can encompass a wide variety of issues including health, social and moral education, behavior management and emotional support. This usage is more common in the United Kingdom and Commonwealth countries such as Australia and New Zealand, where it is also used for student support services at the university level.

Definition of pastoral role [link]

In Christianity [link]

The Bible does not explicitly define the role of a Pastor, but does associate it with teaching^[1]. Pastoral care involves shepherding the flock.

...Shepherding involves protection, tending to needs, strengthening the weak, encouragement, feeding the flock, making provision, shielding, refreshing, restoring, leading by example to move people on in their pursuit of holiness, comforting, guiding (Pss 78: 52; 23)^[2].

Pastoral care [link]

Protestant churches [link]

There are many assumptions about what a Pastor's care is. Commonly, a Pastor's main job is to preach messages in mainline Protestant churches, but in addition to preaching sermons, Pastors are also expected to be involved in local ministries, such as hospital chaplaincy, visitation, funerals, weddings and organizing religious activities. "Pastoral care", therefore, is both encouraging their local congregation, and bringing new people into the church. This is not to say that the congregation is not to be involved in both activities, but that the pastor should be the initiator.

Roman Catholicism [link]

This section requires expansion.

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (November 2010)

In Catholic theology, pastoral care for the sick and infirm is one of the most significant ways that members of the Body of Christ continue the ministry and mission of Jesus. Pastoral care is considered to be the responsibility of all the baptized. Understood in the broad sense of "helping others," pastoral care is the responsibility of all Christians. Sacramental pastoral care is the administration of the sacraments (Baptism, Confirmation, Eucharist, Penance, Extreme Unction, Holy Orders, Matrimony) that is reserved to consecrated priests, except for Baptism (in an emergency anyone can baptize) and marriage, where the spouses are the ministers and the priest is the witness. Pastoral care was understood differently at different times in history. A significant development occurred after the Fourth Lateran Council in 1215 (more on this in the link to Father Boyle's lecture below). The Second Vatican Council (Vatican II) applied the word "pastoral" to a variety of situations involving care of souls; on this point, go to the link to Monsignor Gherardini's lecture).

Many Catholic parishes employ "Pastoral Associates," lay people who serve in ministerial or administrative roles, assisting the pastor in his work, but who are not ordained clerics. They are responsible, among other things, for the spiritual care of frail and housebound as well as for running a multitude of tasks associated with the sacramental life of the Church. However, these tasks are also—and primarily—a part of the role of the ordained clergy, especially the deacons and priests assigned to the parish, who are entrusted with administering most of the Sacraments. If priests have the necessary qualifications in counseling or in psychotherapy, they may offer professional psychological services when they give pastoral counseling as part of their pastoral care of souls. However, the Church hierarchy under John Paul II and Benedict XVI has emphasized that the Sacrament of Penance, or Reconciliation, is for the forgiveness of sins and not counseling and as such should not be confused with or incorporated into the therapy given to a person by a priest, even if the therapist priest is also their confessor. The two processes, both of which are privileged and confidential under civil and canon law, are separate by nature.

Youth Workers and Youth Ministers are also finding a place within parishes, and are looking holistically at the youth of the community, and this involves their spirituality and connectedness to the community and their faith. It is very common for Youth workers/ministers to be involved in pastoral care, and are required to have a qualification in counseling before entering into this arm of ministry. Youth Ministers who do not have this type of qualification should aim to avoid taking on the psychological assessments, however by the nature of their work, they are somewhat predesposed to this type of care.

Eastern Orthodox [link]

The pastoral obligations of Orthodox clergymen are set out by St. John Chrysostom (347-407) in his treatise On the Priesthood. This is perhaps the first really great pastoral work ever written, although he was only a deacon when he penned it. It stresses the dignity of the priesthood. The priest, it says, is greater than kings, angels, or parents. But priests are for that reason most tempted to pride and ambition. They, more than anyone else, need clear and unshakable wisdom, patience that disarms pride, and exceptional prudence in dealing with souls.

See also [link]

• Chaplain
• Clinical pastoral education (CPE)
• Faith healing
• Holistic health
• Pastor
• Pastoral counseling

Footnotes [link]

Bibliography [link]

• Henri Nouwen, Spiritual Direction (San Francisco, HarperOne, 2006).
• Emmanuel Yartekwei Lartey, Pastoral Theology in an Intercultural World (Cleveland, (OH), Pilgrim Press, 2006).
• Neil Pembroke, Renewing Pastoral Practice: Trinitarian Perspectives on Pastoral Care and Counselling (Ashgate, Aldershot, 2006) (Explorations in Practical, Pastoral and Empirical Theology).
• Beth Allison Barr, The Pastoral Care of Women in Late Medieval England (Rochester, NY: Boydell Press, 2008) (Gender in the Middle Ages, 3).
• George R. Ross, Evaluating Models of Christian Counseling (Eugene (OR), Wipf and Stock, 2011).

External links [link]

• St. Thomas Aquinas and the Third Millennium, by Leonard Boyle.
• The Pastoral Nature of Vatican II: An Evaluation, by Brunero Gherardini. Translation of: Sull'indole pastorale del Vaticano II: una valutazione in Concilio Vaticano II, un concilio pastorale (Frigento, Italy: Casa Mariana Editrice, 2011).