The sacramental index is a statistic sometimes used by Roman Catholic bishops as a rough approximation of how active a parish is, based on the occurrence of sacraments or rites of passage. The precise formula varies; in the Archdiocese of Boston, the sacramental index for a parish is calculated by adding the total numbers of baptisms and funerals, and twice the number of weddings.
The index is used to help determine the number of priests assigned to a parish.
Famous quotes containing the words sacramental and/or index:
“Oh! thou clear spirit of clear fire, whom on these seas I as Persian once did worship, till in the sacramental act so burned by thee, that to this hour I bear the scar; I now know thee, thou clear spirit, and I now know that thy right worship is defiance. To neither love nor reverence wilt thou be kind; and e’en for hate thou canst but kill; and all are killed. No fearless fool now fronts thee.”
—Herman Melville (1819–1891)
“Exile as a mode of genius no longer exists; in place of Joyce we have the fragments of work appearing in Index on Censorship.”
—Nadine Gordimer (b. 1923)