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The parish is the community where the faith life of each member is nourished. It is a family where, under the leadership of the pastor, each member contributes to the success of the whole, building up the Kingdom of God in the local community, as part of the Universal Church, the Mystical Body of Christ on earth.
While the parish is first and foremost an ecclesial entity--a specific local community in the Mystical Body of Christ--over the centuries civil law has evolved to mirror Church law in many respects, and in our present legal system each parish is also legally established as a civil corporation under the laws of the State of Wisconsin.
The Diocese of Madison encompasses 104 parishes in the 11-county area of southwestern Wisconsin.