Can a laicized priest collect unemployment?

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db90 said:
It’s the WORK of God so technically yes?
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Some laicised priests at least would presumably be able to gain.other employment. At least a percentage have qualifications in teaching or.the like which wpuld translate to.secular employment.

If.not, then.yes.
 
What, exactly, are you asking? Your question can be read in at least three different ways:
  1. What is a laicized priest’s entitlement under U.S. law? That’s a question for a lawyer or, possibly, a tax accountant to answer.
  2. Even if he is legally entitled to unemployment benefit, would it be ethical for a laicized priest to accept it?
  3. If the law says he not entitled to it, should that law be changed?
 
His status as laicized is irrelevant. The rules vary depending on state or country, but in general, a person in the US who had a certain number of weeks of paid work in past 52 weeks
can file if he is now unemployed or under employed.

If he was fi red from a job for alleged misconduct that would be evaluated. But if he was fired simply because he no longer wanted to be a priest, or got married, that would likely not disqualify.

In the same way if someone in the Army is now unemployed because he didn’t want to reenlist, he could usually get benefits.

But if a man was a Franciscan it might be hard to compute what his earnings were…so his unemployment might be small money.

If he worked in a school or hospital, there would be covered employment, so he would be like any other ex employee. Religious workers or parishes were previously not covered by unemployment or social security but that is changing.
 
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Generally no, in the United States. Religious Orders do not pay in to the unemployment system, so they are not eligible to collect it.

Most dioceses also does not participate, so their employees (laity and clergy) are not eligible.

Deacon Christopher
 
That wouldn’t be likely for a couple of reasons.
  1. Many dioceses and virtually all religious orders don’t pay into the state unemployment fund, since they are exempt from doing so. Nothing in, nothing out.
  2. To qualify for unemployment benefits in most states, you have to have been dismissed from employment ((without cause) to be eligible for benefits. You can’t have resigned, nor committed a dischargeable offense.
    So a priest who asked for laicization would not qualify, nor would one who’d been laicized due to abuse or some other crime.
 
Every laicized priest I know enters into the workforce. They usually have been planning this move for awhile, they have a career plan. Priests are educated men with experience of managing many sizes of organizations.

In my state, no person who works for a Diocese, parish or Catholic School is eligible for unemployment. Non profits are able to opt out paying into it.
 
Diaconia said:
Generally no, in the United States. Religious Orders do not pay in to the unemployment system, so they are not eligible to collect it.

Most dioceses also does not participate, so their employees (laity and clergy) are not eligible.

Deacon Christopher
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My wife was in the convent, never saw a paycheck for the years she taught in parochial schools. But when she filed for Social Security, she got a statement of all her personal earnings. It showed the amount of the standard (tiny!) stipend the parish or diocese paid the Order for her pay each year she worked.

Now if she had been the cook for the convent, there likely wouldn’t have been any record of compensation. So no coverage, for unemployment or social security. In fact, if she had worked in the Order’s own, private convent high school, there might not have been a record of compensation since the convent didn’t ‘pay’ itself.

Prior to the 1970s there were large categories of workers ineligible for Unemployment Insurance. This included Civil Service employees, non profit employees, public. School employees, religious employees many others. But that is changed!

Even though some religious orders have tried to opt out of social security, that doesn’t necessarily apply to Unemployment. My hunch is that most religious priests today who work for an employer (not just serving the Order internally) are covered. They can’t afford to just offer contributed services. They get benefits, pay union dues based on their employer. Almost all diocesan priests work for employers covered by Unemployment. Now if the laicized priest didn’t work or have a job last year, then there’s no employer or employment, so now no unemployment benefit.

In my state workers don’t pay into unemployment. Just the employer. Other states vary.
 
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Yes, circumstances can be different by state.

However, unemployment and Social Security are handled differently. One is a state issue, the other is federal.

Diocesan employees (including clergy) and many orders are entitled to Social Security.

Sadly, the Covid-19 pandemic has resulted in many diocesan employees being laid off or furloughed; they are not eligible for unemployment from our state, but do qualify for the emergency, limited-time, federal unemployment.
 
In a way, the thread is really a moot point. The Vatican is so backed with requests for laicization that by the time the man is formally laicized, he likely hasn’t been working for an employer in a priestly role for the past year. So his application now will depend on what he has been. working at in the prior 52 weeks. If he was just getting a check for doing nothing (alleged offender) that doesn’t count.
 
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https://apnews.com/6e99b1ddf64d5fd7ff85fe065d699e7b/gallery/0102e0c09e2147ef92542dc0749de319

In my diocese there was only one priest referred to Rome for sex abuse laicization in previous 20 years, up to two years ago. Now there’s a long list of them, forwarded to Rome for offenses going back many years. They sat on these cases. Not anymore.

I would guess besides that the main other reason for laicization was men wanting to marry. This used to be several per year a few decades ago now it is one here, one there, most years none at all locally.
 
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Depends on the law. Chances are that such a priest would be considered fired for cause, and be ineligible.
 
Men request to be laicization for a world of reasons, just to make clear Laicization does not automatically mean sex scandal or marriage.
 
commenter said:
The Vatican is so backed with requests for laicization that by the time the man is formally laicized, he likely hasn’t been working for an employer in a priestly role for the past year.
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Laicisation isn’t like leaving a job, the application process takes time and is not automatic. A priest has to petition to be dispensed from the obligations attached to the clerical state (including the obligation of celibacy) and the process is a rather involved one. Everything takes place at the local level first, and then all the information obtained is sent on to Rome for the CDF to consider. It is up to them to decide whether to present the petition to the Pope for his approval, or to ask for a more information or or to reject the petition. The reality is of course, co-operation can’t be forced and so if someone really wants to leave they’re going to regardless of what processes should supposedly be followed.

Normally, a priest who has decided to leave will be assisted in transitioning out of ministry by their diocese or order - for example, by being given a job working in another diocese. they will also be given assistance in finding accommodation and, where necessary, financial support.
 
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