Giving to Non-Catholic communities

[ABostonCatholic]

Is is ever appropriate to give money or other items to non-Catholic churches/communities? Please choose all appropriate answers.

(Speculation is fine, but if any one has a statement from Rome on this, let it be presented.)

 

[lizaanne]

Why would I want to give money to any organization that does not spread the Truth of the Catholic Church? Or that works to spread error which leads in people either not coming to the Truth or leading them away from it.

No - I do not think it is acceptable to give money or goods to non-Catholic communities. Including the Salvation Army, which is a religious organization.

I will assume that you are only referring to religious based organizations, and not something like the Red Cross.

~Liza

 

[Singinbeauty]

Mark 9:

38"Teacher," said John, “we saw a man driving out demons in your name and we told him to stop, because he was not one of us.”
39"Do not stop him," Jesus said. "No one who does a miracle in my name can in the next moment say anything bad about me, 40for whoever is not against us is for us. 41I tell you the truth, anyone who gives you a cup of water in my name because you belong to Christ will certainly not lose his reward.

Just because they aren’t Catholic doesn’t mean you should be against them…

 

[Tantum_ergo]

Just because they aren’t Catholic doesn’t mean you should be against them…

Singinbeauty, just because any individual Catholic does not choose to give a gift (by definition a ‘gift’ is something offered freely) to a non-Catholic organization does not mean said Catholic is ‘against them.’

I cannot possibly give to every charity that exists; I cannot possibly give even to every **Catholic ** charity that exists.

That being said, I do have a ‘right’ to freely ‘give’ to any charity I choose. . .and nobody should say that I am thus ‘against’ any charity which I did ‘not’ choose.

We have to choose to give as wisely as we may, in our stewardship of our worldly goods. I’m sure that you yourself, if faced with the choice of giving ‘only’ to either your personal favorite charity, or to any “Catholic” charity, would choose to support your personal favorite which you indeed must have chosen as the most worthy recipient of your gifts. . .and you wouldn’t expect us to call you ‘anti-Catholic’ in your choice, would you?

 

[Singinbeauty]

Singinbeauty, just because any individual Catholic does not choose to give a gift (by definition a ‘gift’ is something offered freely) to a non-Catholic organization does not mean said Catholic is ‘against them.’

I cannot possibly give to every charity that exists; I cannot possibly give even to every **Catholic ** charity that exists.

That being said, I do have a ‘right’ to freely ‘give’ to any charity I choose. . .and nobody should say that I am thus ‘against’ any charity which I did ‘not’ choose.

We have to choose to give as wisely as we may, in our stewardship of our worldly goods. I’m sure that you yourself, if faced with the choice of giving ‘only’ to either your personal favorite charity, or to any “Catholic” charity, would choose to support your personal favorite which you indeed must have chosen as the most worthy recipient of your gifts. . .and you wouldn’t expect us to call you ‘anti-Catholic’ in your choice, would you?

I am not saying you have to give to EVERYONE of them. I was responding more to the post above mine:

Why would I want to give money to any organization that does not spread the Truth of the Catholic Church? Or that works to spread error which leads in people either not coming to the Truth or leading them away from it.

No - I do not think it is acceptable to give money or goods to non-Catholic communities. Including the Salvation Army, which is a religious organization.

Before you jump to conclusions about what I wrote please try to see where I am coming from… Sheesh… I TRY (doesn’t always mean I succeed) to look at WHAT the charity is about, not who is behind it. For if it is in Christ’s name, then He is behind it and that is all that matters…

 

[ibkc]

Before you jump to conclusions about what I wrote please try to see where I am coming from… Sheesh… I TRY (doesn’t always mean I succeed) to look at WHAT the charity is about, not who is behind it. For if it is in Christ’s name, then He is behind it and that is all that matters…

To me, there is more to it than that. Bear with me while I tell a small story …

My 2-year-old attends nursery school at a Presbyterian church. He goes there because we started taking him to the Mother’s Morning Out program there when he was an infant, which was before my conversion to the Catholic Church, and he knows all the caregivers and teachers there and they know him. He’s happy for now. When he is old enough to start receiving any kind of depthful religious instruction, we will pull him out of the Presbyterian preschool and put him in our parish’s preschool. Anyway, the people at the Presbyterian church are really good, kind folk, who do a lot of good work in the community. But for the past few weeks, every time I have gone to pick up my son, I have to look at a huge display in their lobby for their “MISSION TO MEXICO!” Basically, they’re sending a bunch of high school juniors and seniors down to Mexico for the summer to do charity work, which is great, but the primary purpose is to evangelize poverty-stricken people who are already Christian. I find this extremely offensive, and it has started to color how I feel about the church, and I am wondering whether I should keep my son in their preschool even though he is happy there, because they are so disrespectful of my faith and the faith of the people of Mexico. What makes it even worse is that my brother’s family attends this church, and I am really hoping that neither of my high school aged nieces are going to be going on this mission trip, and if they are, I won’t be directly asked to contribute.

So, in my opinion, for something to simply be in Christ’s name is not all that matters. Something can be in Christ’s name and be against everything a person believes.

 

[Singinbeauty]

To me, there is more to it than that. Bear with me while I tell a small story …

My 2-year-old attends nursery school at a Presbyterian church. He goes there because we started taking him to the Mother’s Morning Out program there when he was an infant, which was before my conversion to the Catholic Church, and he knows all the caregivers and teachers there and they know him. He’s happy for now. When he is old enough to start receiving any kind of depthful religious instruction, we will pull him out of the Presbyterian preschool and put him in our parish’s preschool. Anyway, the people at the Presbyterian church are really good, kind folk, who do a lot of good work in the community. But for the past few weeks, every time I have gone to pick up my son, I have to look at a huge display in their lobby for their “MISSION TO MEXICO!” Basically, they’re sending a bunch of high school juniors and seniors down to Mexico for the summer to do charity work, which is great, but the primary purpose is to evangelize poverty-stricken people who are already Christian. I find this extremely offensive, and it has started to color how I feel about the church, and I am wondering whether I should keep my son in their preschool even though he is happy there, because they are so disrespectful of my faith and the faith of the people of Mexico. What makes it even worse is that my brother’s family attends this church, and I am really hoping that neither of my high school aged nieces are going to be going on this mission trip, and if they are, I won’t be directly asked to contribute.

So, in my opinion, for something to simply be in Christ’s name is not all that matters. Something can be in Christ’s name and be against everything a person believes.

I am not saying that you have to give to every charity or organization just because it is in Christ’s name… If you don’t agree with the premise (as in your story, I can see where you are coming from there) that is different than not supporting it JUST BECAUSE it is non-catholic. Mark 9 says that if it is Christ’s name it is for Him so do not stop them…

 

[LDNCatholic]

Is is ever appropriate to give money or other items to non-Catholic churches/communities? Please choose all appropriate answers.

(Speculation is fine, but if any one has a statement from Rome on this, let it be presented.)

For what purpose?

If they are running a soup kitchen for the homeless, or providing an after school program for children from under priveledged backgrounds or something like that, then by all means.

If it is to fund a kid to go to Protestant seminary, or some kind of foreign mission, then no thanks.

 

[ralphinal]

I see it in a simple fasion: are they filling a need that, for whatever reason, we are not. If so, than I have no issue helping that need. If they are not, then why give? There are a lot of places where the Catholic Church is not present or helping. Why should I not try to help these people as well?

I agree that I should not give to help with anti-Catholic stuff or even the growth of their particular church.

 

[lak611]

I frequently donate items that I no longer need or want to the Salvation Army. In many cases, they are the only organization that will take the items. Also, they will pick up large items. I do not have a truck or people to help me haul away things, so I cannot take these things someplace myself. I would rather donate these things to the Salvation Army, where they could be given or sold at a bargain to someone who needs them, than throw them in the trash.

 

[ABostonCatholic]

I think the most questionable areas are in terms of missions. On the one hand, I would not give to any church that potentially might convert Catholics away from the faith. But if they are looking to convert non-Christians, then I would have less of a problem. I would be more likely to support a Protestant in a mission to Turkey or India than to Mexico or anywhere in Latin America.

I don’t think I’d have any problem at all donating for a matter of social justice, provided it does not conflict with the Church’s SJ teachings. (eg, are they sending care packages full of food and water or condoms and abortifacients?)

 

[ABostonCatholic]

I frequently donate items that I no longer need or want to the Salvation Army. In many cases, they are the only organization that will take the items. Also, they will pick up large items. I do not have a truck or people to help me haul away things, so I cannot take these things someplace myself. I would rather donate these things to the Salvation Army, where they could be given or sold at a bargain to someone who needs them, than throw them in the trash.

Is there not a St. Vincent de Paul store in your area? I look for SVdP first, then I go to SA as a backup. But I generally don’t give funds at Christmas since I don’t know what it’s going towards.

 

[lampstand]

I give to non-religious groups. I probably wouldn’t give to a non-Catholic religious group.

 

[Yerusalyim]

Aside from my regular Church donation, I also regularly give to Habitat for Humanity, often to the Salvation Army, a particular Jewish group…if they are doing good and not Anti-Catholic, I’ll consider giving.

 

[ArdenB]

Is there something anti-Catholic about the Salvation Army?

 

[Tantum_ergo]

In this age, where almost everyone has access to places like the internet and so can check out all the various charities (Catholic or non-Catholic), where almost everybody can then send $$ or can find a ‘local’ charity (Catholic or non-Catholic), then personally I think that unless there were an utterly compelling need and the only charitity soliciting for that need was non-Catholic, and the non-Catholic charity was only going to supply physical need and not to ‘evangelize’ the needy, then I would personally stick with Catholic charities as I am a Catholic.

And this does not make me ‘against’ a non-Catholic charity. Yes, they are ‘doing good in Christ’s name’. But if a Catholic charity is in need (and they are), and I am Catholic, I am going to donate to them first.

I would expect anybody–Catholic or non-Catholic–unless they have quite a bit more wealth than those of us in the ‘upper lower class’ or ‘lower middle class’–does exactly the same thing–carefully examines charitable organizations and then provides to the group with the most need and which is most in line with that person’s own beliefs.

I don’t think your local Baptist preacher would line up to donate to Peter’s Pence, nor would the average Catholic–or for that matter the Baptist preacher either! donate to the Mormon missions. Both those groups (among many others) provide great service to the needy, thus being worthwhile in ‘service’. . .but there is much more to charity than giving ‘physical’ or ‘monetary’ relief.

Unless we are willing to embrace the philosophy of ‘indifferentism’, in which anything “Christian”, whether it is Protestant or Catholic, is absolutely ‘equal’ since “it’s all for God”, we believe that our religion is the ‘true’ religion and in our service we evangelize that religion.

One major concern for many of us Catholics is that some (not all) Protestant groups have taken it upon themselves to go to countries where the population is historically Catholic (generations worth, 300-400 years) to ‘bring Christianity’ to the ‘heathen’. It is one thing to bring Christianity to those who have not ‘heard of it’; it is quite another to approach a group which is already Christian, tell them that they are ‘wrong’, and try to make them accept a ‘new’ teaching. . .

Especially when there are many places in the world where there are truly non-Christians who DO need evangelizing.

 

[ralphinal]

Is there something anti-Catholic about the Salvation Army?

Well, they do deny baptism, so that is one issue. They are a denomination, so there may be some conflict there. They feel that rituals get in the way of religion, so again, there may be trouble.

This is not to say that they do not do good work. It is to say that some of them might try to pule Catholics out of their faith.