Donation!

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all4mary

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When i went to church a few weeks ago i was really upset after confession i gave a donation and the priest insisted i take a receipt. Now the govt getting involved you can’t even give a donation in secret. They want to know were the church gets its money. The govt is making impossible to do good. I was always taught good should be done in secret not for the world to know.
 
all4mary said:
When i went to church a few weeks ago i was really upset after confession i gave a donation and the priest insisted i take a receipt. Now the govt getting involved you can’t even give a donation in secret. They want to know were the church gets its money. The govt is making impossible to do good. I was always taught good should be done in secret not for the world to know.
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Are you sure this is because of the government? You make it sound as though this was a surprise to you. Did you ask the priest why he wanted you to have a receipt?

I don’t see how the government could require the church to track who gives donations; anybody could drop cash into the collection and there would be no way to know who it came from.
 
For myself, I’d appreciate a receipt.

We itemize our income tax forms. I think that most parishes send a report after the first of any year that summarizes monetary gifts via an envelope system. Other gifts that are supported by a receipt are accepted for tax purposes.

My guess is that the priest offered a thoughtful acknowledgment of the gift [and a suitable one for tax purposes].
 
all4mary said:
When i went to church a few weeks ago i was really upset after confession i gave a donation and the priest insisted i take a receipt. Now the govt getting involved you can’t even give a donation in secret. They want to know were the church gets its money. The govt is making impossible to do good. I was always taught good should be done in secret not for the world to know.
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Here in the US, we are allowed to deduct our charity contributions from our income to reduce our taxes. I do not know if you are allowed to do the same in AU. We as a family do not take that deduction because in our case, it doesn’t make sense to do so (we’d have to itemize our deductions and lose the standard deduction). But every year before April 15, all churches tell their members to request an accounting of their contributions if they intend to use the amount as a deduction. It is not reported to the IRS through the church, not by your name. And if you don’t want a record, then just donate in cash.
 
all4mary said:
When i went to church a few weeks ago i was really upset after confession i gave a donation and the priest insisted i take a receipt. Now the govt getting involved you can’t even give a donation in secret. They want to know were the church gets its money. The govt is making impossible to do good. I was always taught good should be done in secret not for the world to know.
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I can understand your point of view. And certainly you thought that charitable acts should be done “in secret” is close to correct, the Judaism has a teaching that a true act of love is made when there is no chance of every receiving anything in return (hence their stress on helping to bury the dead).

And I agree with you on the political issue of the government wanting to be involved, it is very sounds problematic.

Nevertheless, I would encourage you to not look at your donations to your parish as "doing good’. Well, certainly it is doing good, but your post gives it the feel/sound of almsgiving. What we give to support the material needs of the Church is an obligation, just as what we spend on our family. It is not charity, in the sense of almsgiving. It is what we are required to do, and the Church certainly has a right to know what we give (if not the government). So, in general, secrecy should not be assured when giving to the Church.
 
Umm… did you ever consider that your priest insisted on a receipt for his benefit, not yours?

Perhaps he wanted to avoid a situation in which there might be the appearance that he was accepting *payment *for the reception of the sacraments (which would be a huge no-no), and this receipt was his way of formalizing the fact that it was a charitable donation… 😉
 
Wait a second! Are we supposed to make a donation after confession? Sorry, new here and was just baptized 30th of last month. I’ve been to confession but didn’t see a donation box or basket.

Thanks
 
Quaesitor said:
Wait a second! Are we supposed to make a donation after confession? Sorry, new here and was just baptized 30th of last month. I’ve been to confession but didn’t see a donation box or basket.

Thanks
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No, we’re not. This was a particular situation – apparently the OP felt like making a donation at that particular time.
No worries!
 
Hi all tnxs for replying to my thread. Giving donation after confession is optional. The priest told me his got to show were the money is coming from. We do have a donation box. However we were in a room at the church during confession. I felt like giving something to the church. I hope I was right to do so as the priest said nothing but gave a few religious items such as an icon. usually I always put in the donation box as I personally think giving to the church should not be tax deductible as it is a gift. However on this occasion I pushed the priest to take the donation as there was no donation box around. Priest never ask for money but in the eastern custom we give donations for when the house is blessed and all other things but its all optional.
 
Quaesitor said:
Wait a second! Are we supposed to make a donation after confession? Sorry, new here and was just baptized 30th of last month. I’ve been to confession but didn’t see a donation box or basket.

Thanks
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No, don’t worry! The priest can take your credit card, just slide it under the screen.

😉
 
all4mary said:
When i went to church a few weeks ago i was really upset after confession i gave a donation and the priest insisted i take a receipt. Now the govt getting involved you can’t even give a donation in secret. They want to know were the church gets its money. The govt is making impossible to do good. I was always taught good should be done in secret not for the world to know.
Click to expand...
I would say that the reason he’s offering you a receipt is because the Church is considered a charitable organisation by the government which allows it specific exemptions and also allows those who donate to it to claim the donation off of their taxes. To do this of course you need a receipt. Likewise, the Church needs to keep proper financial records (not such a bad thing I would have thought). Incidentally, this isn’t just related to civil law - canon law also requires donations for masses to be strictly recorded along with details of when the mass was said and by who.

Just on the “giving in secret part” - it’s easy to take this a bit too strictly. Obviously the best giving is that which is purely unselfish - done without intention on the giver’s part of getting anything worldly in return. That doesn’t however mean that it must always be totally secret.
 
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