From the Code of Canon Law

Can 548 §1 - The obligations and rights of a parochial vicar, besides being defined in the canons of this chapter, diocesan statutes, and the letter of the diocesan bishop, are more specifically determined in the mandate of the pastor.

§2. Unless the letter of the diocesan bishop expressly provides otherwise, a parochial vicar is obliged to assist the pastor in the entire parochial ministry by reason of office, except for the application of the Mass for the people, and to substitute for the pastor if the situation arises according to the norm of law.

§3. A parochial vicar is to report to the pastor regularly concerning proposed and existing pastoral endeavors in such a way that the pastor and the vicar or vicars, through common efforts, are able to provide for the pastoral care of the parish for which they are together responsible.

Rev. Father Paschal Ezurike
Parochial Vicar & Director of St. Rita's Retreat Center

Father Stephen Fister was born in St.Paul, Minnesota in 1948. His family then moved to Montana where he was raised until his freshman year in high school when he and his family then moved to San Diego, California. There he finish high school and then earned his BA degree in History and Russian at San Diego State University. Upon graduation, he joined the Benedictine Monastery, Prince of Peace Abbey, in Oceanside, California.

In 1991 he moved to Eastern Oregon where he served within the Diocese of Baker at St. Alphonsus and St. Mary's. Fr. Stephen Fister then moved to Western Oregon in 2001 and has since served within the Archdiocese of Portland, at St. Anne's and Our Lady of the River as Parochial Vicar and director of St. Rita's Retreat Center in Gold Hill.