Sub-subseries 32 - Archdiocesan Pastoral Council

As described in Article 16, (1), Motu Proprio of Pope Paul VI issued on August 6, 1966, "the purpose and objectives of the Archdiocesan Pastoral Council are to investigate everything pertaining to pastoral activities, to weigh them carefully and to set forth practical conclusions concerning them so as to promote conformity of the life and actions of the people of god within the Gospel."

In 1968 when Archbishop Jordan called for the establishment of a Diocesan Pastoral Council its aims were to "provide a unified representation of all the People of God, in justice and charity, for the effective discharge of their particular responsibilities in the total mission of the Church; to provide a representative form for the full and free discussion of all matters of pastoral concern in the diocese; to assist the Bishop in his role as shepherd through consultation and cooperation as coworkers in the mission of making Christ presents in the world; to seek and propose ways and means for the effective implementation of solutions to the problem concerning the Christian community by consulting specially qualified persons whose competency in a particular area will provide insights which may contribute to the good of the diocese; and to arrive at a true consensus in through and in action among all the People of God by serving as a free and open channel of communication at all levels.

The Diocesan Council's primary function is to advise the Bishop, and have no legal status in the church. The Bishop (or Archbishop) remains the final authority and continues to have the power to make decisions by himself.

On January 25, 1969 Archbishop Jordan issued the following decree "In accordance with the directives of Vatican II, there shall be and there is hereby declared to be a Pastoral Council in the Archdiocese of Edmonton to be knows as the Pastoral Council for the Archdiocese of Edmonton, hereafter referred to as the Council." Initially members of the Steering Committee were appointed to the Archdiocesan Pastoral Council until a new council was appointed. In the early years the Council consisted of the Archbishop, the Executive Director (a priest), 3 priests (1 member of a religious order and 2 diocesan priests), 2 sisters, 1 brother, and 9 lay men and 9 lay women (3 men and 3 women over 18 and under 25, 3 men and 3 women over 25 and under 40, and 3 men and 3 women over 40). Meetings were held quarterly. Initially there were four committees: Constitutional Committee, Membership Committee, Agenda Committee, and a Publication Committee.

The Constitutional Committee's purpose was to recommend revisions to the constitution as necessary and was comprised of three members. The Membership Committee's purpose was to recommend the most democratic method of selecting the membership of the council and consisted of three members. The Agenda Committee's purpose was to report to the council all proposals received by it and to recommend the agenda for each meeting. The Publicity Committee's purpose was to recommend to the council the means whereby the council and its actions might be most effectively publicized.

In the 1980s Regional Pastoral Councils (RPCs) were established as an intermediary body between the Deaneries and the Archdiocesan Pastoral Council (APC). The Regional Pastoral Councils were as follows, Edmonton Central, Edmonton South (eventually divided in Southeast and Southwest), Edmonton Northeast, Edmonton Northwest, Edmonton Ring, Red Deer, Vegreville, Battle River, Blackgold, Camrose, Drayton Valley/Evansburg/Maryerthorp, Foothills, Fort Saskatchewan, Killiam/Daysland/Heisler, Lakeland, Lloydminster/Vermilion, Most Holy Trinity (Spruce Grove/Stony Plain), Olds/Trochu, Our Lady of Victory, Provost/Wainwright, RDIL, St. Albert, Sturgeon, Yellowhead, and Francophone.

In the early 2000s the Regional Pastoral system was discontinued as priests and lay people found they were being called to server on too many committees (Parish Pastoral Councils, Regional Pastoral Councils, Archdiocesan Pastoral Councils, Deaneries, etc.).

By the 1990s the focus of the APC was to assist in developing a pastoral vision for the church in the archdiocese of Edmonton, to help ensure the future of the church, to hold biennial APC Assembly, and to develop a set of guidelines governing the APC. An official name change took place in the 1990s and the Diocesan Pastoral Council became officially known as the Archdiocesan Pastoral Council which more actually reflected the structure and organization of the Archdiocese of Edmonton.