H
Homictm
Guest
I’m all for protecting the churches but not at the cost of keeping people from church. Many people I know that have converted to or come back to the faith, it was tough, and even small excuses were good enough to drive them away at first. However many times the church being open for adoration all day, or just being there and open let them slip in to ‘talk’ with God. Then after a while they felt comfortable enough to talk with a parishioner or two, or maybe the priest stopped and talked with them. They were able to go to confession because it was offered daily, and mass because it was offered daily, and at normal times. Even better some churches have masses more than once a day, and not just on the weekend. I’d rather see the church full of faithful people than see one scrap of ornamentation on the walls. If the churches can’t be open, then they need to be closed.
The parishes with a good faith life have enough faithful people to staff perpetual adoration, or at least stay open from morning until night because people filter in and out regularly or are attending the masses rosaries, altar society, etc offered through the day. These same people have enough sense to call the police if someone is trying to pry the tabernacle off the high altar. A few parishes I know who don’t have enough people filtering in and out throughout the day managed to buy and rent or rent buildings on their property. This pays for a security service to watch when they don’t have mass, and insurance to cover the church in case it gets vandalized.
I lived in Europe for a while, and the two countries that seemed to have entrance fees the most were France and Italy, although there were other. I felt that was a terrible shame to charge money for visiting a church, and I don’t care if it wasn’t time for mass. Sometimes you just want to go in to pray, but then you find an admissions counter. Donations, sure; required payment, no thanks. I felt that this was truly an abominable thing to do, and in my and many of my friends opinion who were also in Europe, this reminded us of the cleansing of the temple and smacked of simony. (Mark 11:15–1, Matthew 21:12–17, Luke 19:45–48, John 2:13–16) This was also embarrassing especially with some of our friends being protestant and this only making the Church seem less Christ like. (Thanks Bishops!)
To visit the house of God you must pay a fee, then there might be more fees to visit reliquaries and other such areas. Don’t forget to buy your gifts and tokens to remember your visit on the way out, the shops are right there in the church!
Jimrob is absolutely right in what he’s saying on this subject. No one minds paying to see a museum or other items that are not available in the church and are not being used in the church. However a church is not a museum or art gallery, it’s a church. You don’t remove special items to a separate area just so you can charge money, you don’t charge money for entry into the church, and for the love of all that’s holy, don’t turn the church into a store, sell your garbage outside. Profess the faith, support the parishioners and encourage them to evangelize, don’t slight people, and do make sure the church and sacraments are available regularly.
One church we didn’t mind paying to enter was Sagrada Família because the money was going to help build the thing in our lifetime, plus mass was free and open. ALSO the gift store wasn’t inside the church itself but in a separate area. The entry area was also OUTSIDE unlike many of these churches we’re talking about. As long as they take the registers out once the construction is paid for I’m OK with supporting this entry fee, but not a perpetual money grab.
It’s not right to charge for entry into these churches, and where I’m from we have HUGE churches that somehow we manage to keep open, free, clean, heated / cooled, and well maintained. Charging a fee to enter the church leaves an unpleasant feeling to the whole experience, and is against maintaining a religious and holy experience.
These churches in Europe need to stop chasing money and start chasing souls. One way to keep these people away is to leave them with the feeling you’re only interested in their wallets and not their souls. ‘Come here money… I mean parishioner.’
Oh, and don’t forget to alienate them by leaving them out of any decisions using the money they donated and use it to make unfavorable changes to the parish their family helped build… Even better just close that parish and sell it off because you know that won’t leave people with bitterness and anger in their hearts.
Also, how about providing the sacraments throughout the day, everyday, and maybe get there more than a few minutes before mass in case someone needs to go to confession or talk about a problem they’re having.
Last but not least try upholding the faith and teachings of the the church you profess to be a part. I’ve seen time and time again people flock to churches that aren’t afraid to offer them access to God’s sacraments and not just a community center where you can feel good but have no substance. No one wants to waste time standing around in a hall singing songs, at least not for very long. You either give them access to God and his sacraments and hold them accountable or else they’ll figure out you’re wasting their time and you’ll need to close the social hall you’re running. (Or put up an entrance fee and souvenir shop.)
Don’t think I don’t love the Church, I do, I just don’t like it when people profess to be a leader in the Church and then couldn’t care one ounce about what they should be doing. It’s not a job where you punch a time card and then go home. If that’s what you’re looking for go get work at a factory or maybe Starbucks, the lukewarm need not apply. (Revelation 3:16) One last thing, Catholics, let’s bring some friends to mass next time, and not the ones you know are already going.
The parishes with a good faith life have enough faithful people to staff perpetual adoration, or at least stay open from morning until night because people filter in and out regularly or are attending the masses rosaries, altar society, etc offered through the day. These same people have enough sense to call the police if someone is trying to pry the tabernacle off the high altar. A few parishes I know who don’t have enough people filtering in and out throughout the day managed to buy and rent or rent buildings on their property. This pays for a security service to watch when they don’t have mass, and insurance to cover the church in case it gets vandalized.
I lived in Europe for a while, and the two countries that seemed to have entrance fees the most were France and Italy, although there were other. I felt that was a terrible shame to charge money for visiting a church, and I don’t care if it wasn’t time for mass. Sometimes you just want to go in to pray, but then you find an admissions counter. Donations, sure; required payment, no thanks. I felt that this was truly an abominable thing to do, and in my and many of my friends opinion who were also in Europe, this reminded us of the cleansing of the temple and smacked of simony. (Mark 11:15–1, Matthew 21:12–17, Luke 19:45–48, John 2:13–16) This was also embarrassing especially with some of our friends being protestant and this only making the Church seem less Christ like. (Thanks Bishops!)
To visit the house of God you must pay a fee, then there might be more fees to visit reliquaries and other such areas. Don’t forget to buy your gifts and tokens to remember your visit on the way out, the shops are right there in the church!
Jimrob is absolutely right in what he’s saying on this subject. No one minds paying to see a museum or other items that are not available in the church and are not being used in the church. However a church is not a museum or art gallery, it’s a church. You don’t remove special items to a separate area just so you can charge money, you don’t charge money for entry into the church, and for the love of all that’s holy, don’t turn the church into a store, sell your garbage outside. Profess the faith, support the parishioners and encourage them to evangelize, don’t slight people, and do make sure the church and sacraments are available regularly.
One church we didn’t mind paying to enter was Sagrada Família because the money was going to help build the thing in our lifetime, plus mass was free and open. ALSO the gift store wasn’t inside the church itself but in a separate area. The entry area was also OUTSIDE unlike many of these churches we’re talking about. As long as they take the registers out once the construction is paid for I’m OK with supporting this entry fee, but not a perpetual money grab.
It’s not right to charge for entry into these churches, and where I’m from we have HUGE churches that somehow we manage to keep open, free, clean, heated / cooled, and well maintained. Charging a fee to enter the church leaves an unpleasant feeling to the whole experience, and is against maintaining a religious and holy experience.
These churches in Europe need to stop chasing money and start chasing souls. One way to keep these people away is to leave them with the feeling you’re only interested in their wallets and not their souls. ‘Come here money… I mean parishioner.’
Oh, and don’t forget to alienate them by leaving them out of any decisions using the money they donated and use it to make unfavorable changes to the parish their family helped build… Even better just close that parish and sell it off because you know that won’t leave people with bitterness and anger in their hearts.
Also, how about providing the sacraments throughout the day, everyday, and maybe get there more than a few minutes before mass in case someone needs to go to confession or talk about a problem they’re having.
Last but not least try upholding the faith and teachings of the the church you profess to be a part. I’ve seen time and time again people flock to churches that aren’t afraid to offer them access to God’s sacraments and not just a community center where you can feel good but have no substance. No one wants to waste time standing around in a hall singing songs, at least not for very long. You either give them access to God and his sacraments and hold them accountable or else they’ll figure out you’re wasting their time and you’ll need to close the social hall you’re running. (Or put up an entrance fee and souvenir shop.)
Don’t think I don’t love the Church, I do, I just don’t like it when people profess to be a leader in the Church and then couldn’t care one ounce about what they should be doing. It’s not a job where you punch a time card and then go home. If that’s what you’re looking for go get work at a factory or maybe Starbucks, the lukewarm need not apply. (Revelation 3:16) One last thing, Catholics, let’s bring some friends to mass next time, and not the ones you know are already going.