Dear Michael:

Usually the title of "Community of St -----" refers to a religious order or community of religious, though I suppose some parishes may be using the same convention.

Some parish will name themselves "St. ----- Catholic Community". I think it is rather rare for a Catholic parish to be named "St. ----- Community without the word "Catholic" in there, but there may be some who do that.

A parish is a community of believers so the use of the term is accurate. But, a parish church is technically a parish which is composed of a community of the faithful.

I have no idea why the names of parishes are not using the normal convention of "St ----- Church" or "St ------ Parish".

If I were to speculate, which always gets one into trouble, I would say that one possible explanation is the the word "Church" and the word "parish" is considered to be an emphasis on the connection of the parish to the hierarchy of the Church (bishop and Pope). "Community" seems to focus on the connection with the local people. But, that local community cannot be Catholic unless it is connected to the bishop and the Pope.

This was a push in the 1970's, the idea of the local community over the hierarchical Church. Maybe this is a remnant of those times. I really do not know.

On the other hand, this may all be innocent. If you have a chance you might ask the pastor of one of those parishes, or if he does not know, ask the bishop.

God Bless,
Bro. Ignatius Mary