T
TigerLily-1
Guest
By Edward Pentin
An investigation by the German Handelsblatt newspaper has revealed the German Catholic Church collected a record €6 billion ($7.1 billion) last year, and that the country’s 27 dioceses are sitting on a fortune of at least €26 billion ($31.2 billion).
Although Church attendance is rapidly falling in the country — 2.2 million have de-registered since 2000 — the newspaper says revenues have been boosted by a “robust domestic economy.”
The report says the Church’s billions are tied up in fixed assets ($24 billion) and financial investments ($18.1 billion). The former are mostly made up of “equities or real estate, particularly in western Germany, donated by former nobility,” according to Handelsblatt.
The newspaper also says the German Church offers “a generous fund for pensions, reserved for higher-ranking ecclesiastical dignitaries, to the tune of €5 billion ($6 billion), but that number could also be higher as several of the bishoprics’ business reports didn’t provide exact information.”
Much of the Church’s wealth derives from the nation’s Church tax. Every baptized German working adult (roughly one third of the country’s Catholics) has to pay a levy of 8 to 9 percent, depending on the state, an arrangement dating back to the 1919 Weimar Constitution, which was transferred verbatim into the current constitution after World War II.
German citizens who formally wish to stop paying the tax cannot receive Holy Communion or other religious services, according to the German Bishops’ Conference. The Church has even been known to look into expats’ home records to determine if they’ve been honest on tax declarations about being baptized or not, Handelsblatt reports.
The Church also benefits from state subsidies, and both the Catholic and Protestant churches receive exclusive tax breaks not bestowed upon other religious groups in Germany.
Also from the above article:
“In 2016, an academic study showed that 54% of German priests go to confession only “once a year or less” (among pastoral assistants, the figure is as high as 91%).”
Link to 2016 news article describing the study: https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/...-fewer-churchgoers-parishes-and-priests-63755
Has anyone read this article? What do you think?
What is going on in Germany is very upsetting and discouraging. If a German citizen doesn’t pay the tax, s/he can’t receive Communion or any other religious service. Here I am, a struggling Catholic with lots of questions about the Church and it’s teachings and here we have Catholic priests that don’t even go to confession!
I pray there’s something Pope Francis can do here. This is a scandal!
Lord, have mercy!
An investigation by the German Handelsblatt newspaper has revealed the German Catholic Church collected a record €6 billion ($7.1 billion) last year, and that the country’s 27 dioceses are sitting on a fortune of at least €26 billion ($31.2 billion).
Although Church attendance is rapidly falling in the country — 2.2 million have de-registered since 2000 — the newspaper says revenues have been boosted by a “robust domestic economy.”
The report says the Church’s billions are tied up in fixed assets ($24 billion) and financial investments ($18.1 billion). The former are mostly made up of “equities or real estate, particularly in western Germany, donated by former nobility,” according to Handelsblatt.
The newspaper also says the German Church offers “a generous fund for pensions, reserved for higher-ranking ecclesiastical dignitaries, to the tune of €5 billion ($6 billion), but that number could also be higher as several of the bishoprics’ business reports didn’t provide exact information.”
Much of the Church’s wealth derives from the nation’s Church tax. Every baptized German working adult (roughly one third of the country’s Catholics) has to pay a levy of 8 to 9 percent, depending on the state, an arrangement dating back to the 1919 Weimar Constitution, which was transferred verbatim into the current constitution after World War II.
German citizens who formally wish to stop paying the tax cannot receive Holy Communion or other religious services, according to the German Bishops’ Conference. The Church has even been known to look into expats’ home records to determine if they’ve been honest on tax declarations about being baptized or not, Handelsblatt reports.
The Church also benefits from state subsidies, and both the Catholic and Protestant churches receive exclusive tax breaks not bestowed upon other religious groups in Germany.
Also from the above article:
“In 2016, an academic study showed that 54% of German priests go to confession only “once a year or less” (among pastoral assistants, the figure is as high as 91%).”
Link to 2016 news article describing the study: https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/...-fewer-churchgoers-parishes-and-priests-63755
Has anyone read this article? What do you think?
What is going on in Germany is very upsetting and discouraging. If a German citizen doesn’t pay the tax, s/he can’t receive Communion or any other religious service. Here I am, a struggling Catholic with lots of questions about the Church and it’s teachings and here we have Catholic priests that don’t even go to confession!
I pray there’s something Pope Francis can do here. This is a scandal!
Lord, have mercy!
) but this article led me to believe the tax was 8% of income separate from the actual income tax. And that the Church is “sitting on” billions of dollars while hospitals and other things are underfunded and suffer. So thank you for clearing that up!