Editing Parish (section)

{{Short description|Ecclesiastical subdivision of a diocese}}
{{About|the Christian division|the civil division|Parish (administrative division)|other uses|Parish (disambiguation)}}
{{redirect|Parish priest|the book|Parish Priest (book)}}
[[File:BerndorfEnsembleMargaretenplatz.jpg|thumb|St Margarete Parish Church, [[Berndorf, Lower Austria]]]]
A '''parish''' is a territorial entity in many [[Christianity|Christian]] denominations, constituting a division within a [[diocese]]. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a [[priest#Christianity|priest]], often termed a '''parish priest''', who might be assisted by one or more [[curates]], and who operates from a [[parish church]]. Historically, a parish often covered the same geographical area as a [[Manorialism|manor]]. Its association with the parish church remains paramount.<ref>{{citation|url=http://www.catholic.com/magazine/articles/when-parishes-merge-or-close|author=Michael Trueman and Pete Vere|title=When Parishes Merge or Close|work=[[Catholic Answers]]|date=July 2007|volume=18|number=6|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130615133347/http://www.catholic.com/magazine/articles/when-parishes-merge-or-close|archive-date=2013-06-15}}</ref>

By extension the term ''parish'' refers not only to the territorial entity but to the people of its community or congregation as well as to church property within it. In England this church property was technically in ownership of the parish priest ''[[Ex officio member|ex officio]]'', vested in him on his institution to that parish.