The Code of Canon Law defines a parish as “a certain community of the Christian faithful stably constituted in a particular church, whose pastoral care is entrusted to a pastor (parochus) as its proper pastor (pastor) under the authority of the diocesan bishop,” and that a “to become a pastor validly, one must be in the sacred order of the presbyterate.”
Only as an exception "due to a shortage of priests” does canon law allow a bishop to entrust "the pastoral care of a parish to a deacon, to another person who is not a priest, or to a community of persons.”
But even in these cases, the Code of Canon Law establishes that the bishop “is to appoint some priest who, provided with the powers and faculties of a pastor, is to direct the pastoral care.”
In 2019, the Archdiocese of Lima reported having 487 priests, of whom 206 were diocesan, and 124 parishes.
Archbishop Castillo, 71, was a professor of theology at the Pontifical Catholic University of Peru from 1987 until his 2019 appointment as ordinary of the Lima archdiocese.
At his episcopal consecration it was Fr. Gustavo Guttierez who formally asked the nuncio that Castillo be made a bishop.
Archbishop Castillo studied social sciences at the National University of San Marcos in Lima, and did ecclesiastical studies at the Pontifical Gregorian University. He was ordained a priest of the Lima archdiocese in 1984.
Besides serving in various parishes, he was also counselor of the National Union of Catholic Students from 1987-1998 and vicar for youth ministry in Lima from 1996-1999.
From 1990-2001 Castillo was national advisor for the youth commission of the Peruvian bishops' conference.
Graduated in Communication Sciences from the Universidad Privada del Norte in Trujillo, Peru. I have been part of the ACI Prensa team for more than 10 years. I have covered Pope Francis' trips to Ecuador, Paraguay, Mexico, Colombia, Chile, and Peru. I covered the beatification ceremony of today's Saint Oscar Arnulfo Romero in San Salvador, El Salvador, in 2015. Special envoy for investigation in Honduras in 2016. Head of the ACI Prensa Office in Mexico since 2018.