Do priests get paid?

[RosaryKindaGuy]

I was wondering do priests have other jobs or are they A priest and that is their job also do you get paid as a priest what about money they are given does it have to be donated to the parish? or does he get it as his money?

 

[CatholicCid]

A Diocesan Priest is generally paid a salary through the Parish, though it may not be very much. They can also accept donations/gifts from parishioners without it having to be donated through the Parish.

A Religious Priest generally has a vow of poverty (depends on the Order) and would not receive a private salary, instead having his needs provided by the Order. As for donations, again depending on the Order, he might be allowed to take donations/gifts or he might have to turn it over to the Order and/or ask his Superior permission to keep it for his private use.

In the Latin Rite, I don’t believe you would see many Priests ‘moonlighting’ at other jobs.

 

[Doc2be]

One important point that has been left out is that being a Priest is a vocation not a job…there is a huge difference. A vocation is what you are, a job is what you do. A priest is always a priest, he “works” 24/7. They do not have shifts on and off just as parents, or married couples, do not work as parents but are called to be married.

That being said, from the information I have been given for my diocese, the priests are given a stipend from the diocese, every month, in order to meet their needs. And everything else that was said is correct.

Priest do not work for a living the live to work…I hope this helps.

 

[Sr_Sally]

As others have said a diocesan priest (the kind you see at an regualr parish) do get a monthly stipend from the diocese. They may also receive money from family or as a gift. They keep their own money and can invest it or spend as they see fit (within reason). Depending on the diocese a priest might own their own car rather than having that provided for example.

A priest in most religious orders (Francisan, Dominican, etc.) will have taken vow of poverty and cannot own private property (outside of basic personal belongings) or keep money. Gifts of money would be given to the order. From the order they receive housing, food, clothing (their habit) and transportation. Depending on what type of work the order does, they may revied a very small stipend so that they have cash on hand for public transportation or to buy food during the day while they are working.

 

[bilop]

In the Latin Rite, I don’t believe you would see many Priests ‘moonlighting’ at other jobs.

I think this happens more among the Eastern/Oriental Churches (Catholic and Orthodox).
In some cases a married priest may have a secular job to support his family.

This is necessary/possible b/c their parishes tend to be much smaller than Latin parishes, and tend to have only 1 priest. The smaller parishes mean that they can’t afford a salary that would support their priest. Alternatively, b/c the parishes are small, and they generally celebrate the liturgy on Sunday only (not daily), the workload is less. So, it is possible (though difficult) for the priest to work a secular job, and serve the parish.

God Bless

 

[puzzleannie]

A Diocesan Priest is generally paid a salary through the Parish, though it may not be very much. They can also accept donations/gifts from parishioners without it having to be donated through the Parish.

A Religious Priest generally has a vow of poverty (depends on the Order) and would not receive a private salary, instead having his needs provided by the Order. As for donations, again depending on the Order, he might be allowed to take donations/gifts or he might have to turn it over to the Order and/or ask his Superior permission to keep it for his private use.

In the Latin Rite, I don’t believe you would see many Priests ‘moonlighting’ at other jobs.

not exactly. Yes diocesan priests receive a salary and usually mileage or other car allowance, use of rectory to live in etc. Some priests do “moonlight” such as teaching in a school or college, chaplain, or other job with the diocese or another Catholic institution, and the diocese or order has rules on how that income is handled. All income must be accounted for, and all clergy have to file tax returns according to the same rules as everyone else, although there is a special IRS form for clergy income.

order priests depend on the discipline of their order, in general any salary they receive (from serving in a parish, as a Catholic school teacher etc) goes to their order, who provides their living expenses etc. any gifts of cash or kind also belong to the order, but usually if it is something personal they might be allowed to keep it.

all priests who receive stipends or donations are required to report it as income to the IRS and to handle it according to directives of the diocese (or their order). In practice that means he can simply put it in the parish general fund, and it is not income to him (but still has to be listed and accounted for on parish books). Or he can keep it to help support himself, as he does his regular salary, but of course report it to IRS.

 

[CatholicCid]

not exactly. Yes diocesan priests receive a salary and usually mileage or other car allowance, use of rectory to live in etc. Some priests do “moonlight” such as teaching in a school or college, chaplain, or other job with the diocese or another Catholic institution, and the diocese or order has rules on how that income is handled.

Sorry, I was referring to secular jobs, such as say Fr. John Doe being the bagger at the grocers

 

[raouldiz1]

Catholic priests do not get wages; instead they get stipends whose amount is largely discretionary with the bishop who considers the total financial support given by the faithful to the diocese. Hence priests do not have salary contracts. Money is given to priests of course because the church wants them to be free of financial worry over their basic needs that would otherwise detract them from their work. The work includes spreading spiritual values, administering the parish, tending to the church edifice, ministering on call 24/7 to the sick and the dying around the parish, celebrating Mass with the people, doing baptisms and at times exorcism.

Catholic priests consider their ministry a calling and not employment, and so are less concerned about compensation than normal employees who work for pay. Catholic priests also believe that the reward for their dedication is heaven, and not the financial package that they might receive on a regular basis. For this reason Catholic priests are paid less compared to their counterparts in other denominations or faiths. Another reason for the smaller pay is that Catholic priests do not have or are not permitted to take on wives, so they would also be free from the need to support a family and the distractions that come with it.

Even when a Catholic parish is poor, I have not heard of Catholic priests assigned there preaching about the need to support the Church (except when there are special projects that need to be funded), preaching tithing incessantly and being generous, and, using bible verses cleverly presented, promising huge blessings to come from these. The reason is that priests, as disciples of Jesus, do not want to be misunderstood, nor do they want people to misunderstand the message of the bible in Luke 10:1-23 which tasks Christians to preach the Good News, bringing no money with them but living only on what the people offer them. In this way too, priests learn the humility to accept support from their parishioners.

In contrast, I have heard of some non-Catholic pastors, especially those who preach a so-called “prosperity gospel,” raking it in. The traditional defense of these affluent pastors, of course, is that they have to be the living models of the prosperity which the gospel according to their preaching is all about. They are unfazed by the scandal they cause, especially among people who struggle daily for food, shelter and clothing. In fact, they turn the tables around by saying those people are poor because precisely they still do not know that the gospel message is really about prosperity for believers. Which is of course a call in itself for even those poor people to financially support the prosperity-church!

So, why do Catholic priests get paid? Certainly not to get more than what they need, or worse, to get rich, but like all of us who live in this world, to keep body and soul together and to meet basic expenses involved in the nature of the work they have dedicated themselves to. We should pray for Catholic priests, especially the secular priests who have no organization to support them (unlike priests that belong to religious orders, such as the Jesuits), who willingly accept small financial support (and almost always uncertainty in old age, if they live in poor countries) because they believe they are needed workers in the vineyard of the Lord, where the harvest is plentiful but only have few workers. God Bless You.