"...and the duty to contribute financially to enable the Church to fulfill its functions." The grace of Time, Talent, and Treasure comes from it being freely given. If it is required or demanded, it isn't Christian.
I'm sorry, but this practice is an abomination. If Rome will not intervene simply because of money, that's also horrific. We…
"...and the duty to contribute financially to enable the Church to fulfill its functions." The grace of Time, Talent, and Treasure comes from it being freely given. If it is required or demanded, it isn't Christian.
I'm sorry, but this practice is an abomination. If Rome will not intervene simply because of money, that's also horrific. We are a faith of free will and persuasion, not coercion. I can't imagine being denied the sacraments -- burial! -- because I couldn't afford the tax.
A lot of this has fairly old historical context. As a result of concordats the state took on responsibilities to provide for the Church, the tax is the way that the government is meeting their legal requirements. Now we can have a long debate on if these concordats should be relooked at or renegotiated but the reality is in several European countries clergy and Church ministries are paid for by the government. This is totally foreign to the American mindset. Maybe indeed a change in mindset is needed but it is not as easy as flipping a switch. Almost any pastor in the US knows the difficulties of running a parish when most are immigrants coming from countries that have been ran through taxes as these parishioners are often VERY slow to give and give in very small amounts as they are not used to contributing directly to the needs of the church.
With regard specifically to confession I find it a fascinating reification of the parable in the second half of Matthew 18: we are told a story about writing off (or not) a financial debt and we are meant to understand it more abstractly as forgiveness in general - but here it is as, also, literally a financial debt, perhaps as a reminder that there is more than one way in which Catholics read Scripture (four, but I would be hard pressed to spell them all).
115 According to an ancient tradition, one can distinguish between two senses of Scripture: the literal and the spiritual, the latter being subdivided into the allegorical, moral and anagogical senses. The profound concordance of the four senses guarantees all its richness to the living reading of Scripture in the Church. — Catechism of the Catholic Church
While I find the church tax horrible for several grave reasons, poor people not being able to pay it is not really a problem. Since it is based on income tax, below a certain income you don't have to pay anything and above that it only rises gradually.
I agree fully with your post. The German bishops should WANT to put a stop to this. It looks bad but only because it is so wrong. Stunning that so many of them want to ignore divine revelation about marriage in many ways but want to keep faithful Catholics away because they simply don't want--or can't afford--to pay 8-9% of their income to the Church. The Church in Germany should move to abolish this forthwith and learn to live in the same way that the Church does in countries without church taxes.
"...and the duty to contribute financially to enable the Church to fulfill its functions." The grace of Time, Talent, and Treasure comes from it being freely given. If it is required or demanded, it isn't Christian.
I'm sorry, but this practice is an abomination. If Rome will not intervene simply because of money, that's also horrific. We are a faith of free will and persuasion, not coercion. I can't imagine being denied the sacraments -- burial! -- because I couldn't afford the tax.
These countries have significant social safety nets so no one is poor in the same way they are poor in America.
I don't think the church tax is completely unreasonable. The State is collecting the tithe every Catholic should be paying.
I suspect our disagreements go much deeper.
There is an interesting article with this title and byline, "In Western European Countries With Church Taxes, Support for the Tradition Remains Strong
Though some Europeans are opting out, many view religious institutions as key contributors to the common good"
A lot of this has fairly old historical context. As a result of concordats the state took on responsibilities to provide for the Church, the tax is the way that the government is meeting their legal requirements. Now we can have a long debate on if these concordats should be relooked at or renegotiated but the reality is in several European countries clergy and Church ministries are paid for by the government. This is totally foreign to the American mindset. Maybe indeed a change in mindset is needed but it is not as easy as flipping a switch. Almost any pastor in the US knows the difficulties of running a parish when most are immigrants coming from countries that have been ran through taxes as these parishioners are often VERY slow to give and give in very small amounts as they are not used to contributing directly to the needs of the church.
The origin of these church taxes go back to when secular states expropriated land, monasteries, and churches from the Catholic Church.
With regard specifically to confession I find it a fascinating reification of the parable in the second half of Matthew 18: we are told a story about writing off (or not) a financial debt and we are meant to understand it more abstractly as forgiveness in general - but here it is as, also, literally a financial debt, perhaps as a reminder that there is more than one way in which Catholics read Scripture (four, but I would be hard pressed to spell them all).
literal, spiritual, animalogistical, and the other one.
115 According to an ancient tradition, one can distinguish between two senses of Scripture: the literal and the spiritual, the latter being subdivided into the allegorical, moral and anagogical senses. The profound concordance of the four senses guarantees all its richness to the living reading of Scripture in the Church. — Catechism of the Catholic Church
While I find the church tax horrible for several grave reasons, poor people not being able to pay it is not really a problem. Since it is based on income tax, below a certain income you don't have to pay anything and above that it only rises gradually.
I agree fully with your post. The German bishops should WANT to put a stop to this. It looks bad but only because it is so wrong. Stunning that so many of them want to ignore divine revelation about marriage in many ways but want to keep faithful Catholics away because they simply don't want--or can't afford--to pay 8-9% of their income to the Church. The Church in Germany should move to abolish this forthwith and learn to live in the same way that the Church does in countries without church taxes.
8-9% of income tax! That's a huge difference.
I was going to comment that this "church tax" is an abomination, but you beat me to it. I agree wholeheartedly.