Are Catholics required to pay tithe?

[HatchFamily]

My husband and I were lifelong members of the LDS (Mormon church). For the past few years we have started to research the Mormon church and have realized how different it was from Christianity. Of the of core doctrines in the Mormon church was paying tithe.

Every baptized member (including children) are required to pay 10% of their income (for a child this would be from birthday money, babysitting money, etc.). At the end of the year everyone was required to attend “tithing settlement,” where you went in and met with your bishop and declared whether or not what you paid to the church was actually 10% of your income. As an adult, if you didn’t pay a 10% tithe, you weren’t allowed to go to the temple, among other things.

My husband and I have been to Mass for the past few months, and nothing has ever been mentioned about tithing. Is that the basket that they pass around during Mass? What does the Catholic Church teach in regards to tithe?

 

[Michelle_Arnold]

Tithing was part of the Law of Moses, and as such is considered to be no longer binding upon Christians. But the moral principle that Christians should support the work of the Church remains, so it is a precept of the Church that Catholics support the Church to the best of their ability:

The fifth precept [of the Catholic Church] (‘You shall help to provide for the needs of the Church’) means that the faithful are obliged to assist with the material needs of the Church, each according to his own ability (CCC 2043).

Catholics make their own determination, according to their best prudential judgment, of what they are able to give for the support of the Church. In addition to money, this can also include time and talent, offered in non-monetary ways (e.g., serving at Mass, helping to teach the faith, assisting the poor in the parish community, etc.). As for the baskets passed at Sunday Mass, those are for the monetary offerings each person feels able to give.