Does all the Catholic churches charge for baptism?

[mesl4]

I’m thinking of joining Catholicism, but am still frantically researching it. I see our local church charges for baptisms, confirmation, RCIA, RCIC, etc. Is this the norm? I was shocked! I’ve never heard of a church charging for someone to come to accept Christ!
Maya

 

[ChristinaM]

The fees you see are usually for sacramental preparation such as books and classes. As you probably already know RCIA is a involved process that takes a lot of time and effort from priests and catechists. Likewise with the other sacraments. I can definitely see how this would be strange to you if you are from a Baptist background - as I understand it, there is no period of preparation for baptism, you just go up and get dunked, am I right?

For weddings and other sacraments, it is customary to give a stipend to the priest - after all “the laborer is worthy of his hire.” They do not make a lot of money and I imagine they don’t have a lot to spend on “extras.” Considering how much money is spent on weddings these days I consider it to be in bad taste for a couple to begrudge the priest his stipend - not saying that you are doing this at all, but I have seen it before. I am happy to give my priest a consideration for his work in preparing our wedding.

If the fee or stipend were a real hardship, I know of no priest or parish that would turn ANYONE away. The sacraments are absolutely not for sale.

 

[Brenda_V]

Maya,

No the Church does not charge for the Sacraments. It may charge for materials used for RCIA/RCIC/Marriage Prep/Baby Baptism Prep etc. but no, the Church does not charge for the Sacrament itself.

Call your local Parish and talk to them about it. If you can not afford even the fee for the materials that fee is generally waived.

Also, could you direct us to where you found out about the fees? Having not had anyone making one of the one time Sacraments for 10 years, I don’t know what is done today. My Parishes bulletin doesn’t talk about fees for any of the Sacraments, just to call and schedule an appointment with the Priest or Deacon.

Brenda V.

 

[TobyLue]

Let’s not get confused here… There is no charge for the sacrament. There may be a charge for attending classes but thats to cover for the purchase of the material.
If the Church were to charge for coming to Christ, I’ll bet the communion lines would shrink. Think of how much $$ would be made if the church charged for each host.

As far as baptism is concerned, the people may give a stipend to the priest but there is no fee for conferring the sacrament.
People give $$ to our church for funeral services, but our priest does not require it.

 

[TobyLue]

Hmmmmmm, come to think of it… is that the reason confessional lines are so short. Priest are charging too much for the sacrament of reconciliation? Or is it that there are soooo many holy people around there is no need to bother the priest with trivial sins?

 

[puzzleannie]

I’m thinking of joining Catholicism, but am still frantically researching it. I see our local church charges for baptisms, confirmation, RCIA, RCIC, etc. Is this the norm? I was shocked! I’ve never heard of a church charging for someone to come to accept Christ!
Maya

no your parish does not charge a fee for these sacraments. if the bulletin you saw implies that, the person typing the bulletin is in error and this should be brought to the attention of the pastor.

your parish might very well charge a fee to cover costs of mandatory preparation classes for candidates, parents and sponsors for sacraments, including books, videos, supplies, retreats and overhead.

your parish might also charge a fee for use of the facilities for a wedding, which might be more for non-parishioners who are not already contributing to the upkeep of the parish property

I have never heard of a parish who would not waive such fees in case of genuine need.

 

[Ted_in_Charlott]

The church I had RCIA didn’t charge anything for anything. There was a suggested donation for the condensed catechism (the one by Monsignor I can’t remember, not the one by Pope Benedict).
But if didn’t have the money that was ok too.

 

[Sabda]

Hmmmmmm, come to think of it… is that the reason confessional lines are so short. Priest are charging too much for the sacrament of reconciliation? Or is it that there are soooo many holy people around there is no need to bother the priest with trivial sins?

There is ABSOLUTELY NO charge for confession. Confessions are completely free. People do not go to confession because they don’t feel it’s important. However, there are plenty of Catholics who do go to confession on a regular basis. Also, some of our holiest people are the ones who go to confession all the time, at least weekly if not daily.

 

[Joannm]

We ask for a donation for Batisms. Weddings and funerals have a set fee. The funeral fee is usually included in the Funeral Home fee and the Home gives a check to us. There is also a seperate fee for musicians paid directly to them. If there is a real hardship then the fee is waived.

 

[kristie_m]

Hmmmmmm, come to think of it… is that the reason confessional lines are so short. Priest are charging too much for the sacrament of reconciliation? Or is it that there are soooo many holy people around there is no need to bother the priest with trivial sins?

though this thought is really for a DIFFERENT thread.