Money, Money, Money

I would like to draw your attention to an excellent article by Fr Alexander Lucie-Smith on the Catholic Herald website. It concerns the German Church tax, an issue I addressed in an earlier post. I personally believe the tax should be scrapped, for the very reasons Fr Xander cites.  

As I mentioned before, those who refuse to pay the tax are forced to leave the Catholic Church and are refused the sacraments. That is not only problematic and disturbing, it is, in my view, a scandal. People must be free to contribute what they wish to the Church, of course they have a responsibility to help the Church financially, but enforcing a state tax to do so and excommunicating those who don't play ball is immoral - it may well be a sin. 

Reform? What About That German Tax?

As the Synod is discussing issues concerning marriage and the family, we will expect the German bishops to push for communion for the divorced and civilly remarried as they have done so far in the months leading up to the meeting. However, I draw your attention to an article by Amy Welborn in which reflects on the German Church tax which has enriched the Church in Germany. She notes that as the German bishops lobby for communion for those in irregular relationships, they refuse the Eucharist, and other sacraments, to those Catholics who do not pay the Church tax. What do you call that?

Given his example and his urging poverty on the Church, I think Pope Francis will have to tackle this issue. Is it not time that the obligatory tax be abolished? The bishops of Germany have been dogged in their refusal to do so, but perhaps Francis should be even more dogged in his efforts to make them toe the line. The Church in Germany is not to have special privileges because of its wealth, yet many in the Church have concluded that the vast donations flowing down from the Rhine into the Tiber have led to expectations among the Germans, particularly those not known for their orthodoxy. Time to dam that flow. 

Having listening to Francis's words on poverty and simplicity, I expect him to deal with this issue sooner rather than later.

The Poorer Church...

There is another issue which I have been pondering, and it is not unrelated to that just mentioned in my last post: the issue of the Church tax in Germany. 

At the moment the German government requires its citizens to declare which Church they are members of, if they are members, and a percentage of their salary is then taken at source and passed on to their Church.  This is the main source of income for the Church in Germany, and it has made the Church there very wealthy.  German Catholics who object to this have no option but to formally leave the Church in order to prevent the tax being taken from their salary.  Not an ideal situation. 

The Church in Germany has since become a major contributor to the Holy See, passing on large donations from the funds it has collected in taxes.  Now given the nature of the human condition, I’m sure we all know the effects such generous donations can have, and so when the phrase “The Rhine flows into the Tiber” is mentioned, a number of things are implied.  The Papacy may well, at times, have found itself under pressure from the north, and that is not good.  Is such pressure being applied now in the issue of Communion for the divorced and remarriage, an issue close to the hearts of the German bishops?  One couldn’t possibly speculate. 

The Church tax is problematic; being in the pay of the secular authorities, or relying on it for one’s income, has never been good for the Church.  Often bishops and priests have been tempted to side with the source of income when disputes arose between secular powers and the faith.  There is also the concern that if a tax is being collected and paid to the Church, the expectations and desires of those who pay it may assume more importance than the Gospel.  In our consumerist age those who pay expect a service and expect it to be carried out in the a particular manner which accords with those expectations.  If these expectations and desires are out of synch with Church teaching, that puts pastors who rely on the tax in a dilemma: what do they do?

I personally believe the Church in Germany must renounce the Church tax and rely, as the Church does almost everywhere else, on voluntary donations.  Yes, it may well mean a poorer Church in Germany, but also a freer Church, one where the paymaster does not decide the direction the Church goes in, but rather the Gospel.  Pope Francis, with his emphasis on poverty, is the very man who could persuade the German bishops to renounce it.