A: ‘Transparochial’ refers to an organization that draws its members from more than one parish and, because of this, is not a parish organization, but a diocesan organization and should be directly under the diocese. In fact, in the archdiocese of Manila (during the time of Cardinal Jaime Sin), all organizations like the BCBP, Ligaya ng Panginoon, etc. were all classified as transparochial communities.
However, the BCBP is not really a transparochial group in the above sense. It is a national organization. As a whole it relates to the Catholic Church through its membership in the Council of the Laity. It is a recognized association of the faithful by the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines through the Episcopal Commission on the Laity (ECLA). Since the BCBP has chapters in different places, it is also a diocesan organization, but not a parish organization, because it draws its members from the different parishes. It should relate to the bishop and not to a parish or a particular priest. The bishop may appoint a priest to be his liaison to the BCBP, but that still would not put the chapter under a particular parish priest.
When asked, we should explain that the BCBP is a national organization and that the local chapters get directives regarding their mission and life from the BCBP’s central office. Secondly, we should relate the chapter to the diocese and explain to the bishop that although the chapter is part of a national organization, we do want to extend our mission to reach out to the business and professional sector within the diocese. The BCBP’s mission is not parish work; it focuses on the business sectors of the community. We can emphasize that we have found that BCBP members, as a result of the BCBP’s renewal and formation program, become active members in their respective home parishes.