CHARLOTTE — New officers and members have been selected for the Diocese of Charlotte’s Presbyteral Council, a group that advises the bishop in governing the diocese.
Officers for the 2024-25 session are:
• Chairman: Father Benjamin Roberts, pastor of Our Lady of Lourdes Parish in Monroe
• Vice Chairman: Father Christian Cook, pastor of St. St. Pius X Parish in Greensboro
• Secretary: Father Matthew Codd, pastor of St. Thomas Aquinas Parish in Charlotte
• Treasurer: Father John Putnam, pastor of St. Mark Parish in Huntersville and judicial vicar for the diocese
Bishop Michael Martin, OFM Conv., serves as president of the Presbyteral Council.
Clergy elected to the Presbyteral Council to serve a three-year term from 2024 to 2027 are: Father Paul Gary, pastor of St. Luke Church in Mint Hill; Father Stephen Hoyt, chaplain of Pennybyrn; Father Roberts; and Jesuit Father Tim Stephens, pastor of St. Peter Church in Charlotte.
Other members of the Presbyteral Council are listed on the diocese’s website, www.charlottediocese.org.
Required by Church law, the Presbyteral Council represents all priests in the diocese and is “like a senate of the bishop” (Code of Canon Law 495 §1), with about half the members elected by priests and others appointed by the bishop.
— Catholic News Herald
Pictured above are 2024-2025 Presbyteral Council officers (from left) Father Christian Cook, Father Benjamin Roberts, Bishop Michael Martin, Father John Putnam and Father Matthew Codd. (Photo provided)