In order that every pastor might know what his rights and duties are, the Church has taken great pains to determine and define them for him even to the smallest detail. And wisely so, fur even the smallest detail are of great significance where there is question of souls. But if the Church took so much trouble to do all this for the pastor is it not, accordingly, the duty of the pastor to study and know these matters and put them into practice? This study will necessarily entail much time and labor hut the importance d the office demands that this time and labor be spent.Information regarding these rights and duties of pastors may be gathered from the various works on Moral Theology, Canon Law and Pastoral Theology. But most of these works were compiled before the New Code of Canon came into effect and, therefore, do not contain the New Legislation in all its changes. For this reason,. have I taken it upon myself, with the help of God, to gather this matter and to treat of this subject as it is today, according to the New Canon Law. I do not presume to give a complete and exhaustive treatment of the matter in hand but hope to give the. parish priest a working knowledge of the subject with reference to the more important and frequent rights and duties. Moreover. this is a canonical dissertation on the subject and, consequently, questions of moral theology will not be treated except in so far as they are necessary to explain the law.It may also he well to state here that in many places canons treating of benefices will he quoted as proofs for matters pertaining to parishes.What is written in these pages is written in complete subjection to the 'teaching authority of the Catholic Church and with a hope that these lines may prove of some value in increasing the effectiveness of our parish priests.