Honoring a pledge

[AquinaSavio]

Someone asked me this question, and I didn’t quite know how to answer it. Please give your opinions.

This person pledged an amount of money to his parish for a renovation project. However, he has since left the parish because of liturgical abuses and other problems. It would also hurt him significantly (financially) to support the project more than he already has. Is he morally bound to honor the pledge?

Thanks.

 

[1ke]

Tyipcally pledge drives are long term and during the drive pledge requests are framed in such as way that it is clear to the pledger that there is no moral obligation to complete their pledge if they move away, suffer a change in financial circumstances, etc, and also there is no legal obligation to them or their estate (in case of death) should they be unable to fulfill their pledge.

So, no, I would say there is no moral obligation to continue to financially support a parish in which he is no longer registered. He could continue to do so out of charity, but in my opinion it’s not a moral obligation.

This is one reason that typically pledge goals exceed the needed amount-- there are statistics available showing the typical dropout rate during a pledge drive.

 

[puzzleannie]

unless he made some kind of legally binding agreement he is not morally bound, especially if he is afraid the gift will be used to promote some activity not in keeping with the mission of the Church, or detrimental to the Church. He should consider transferring the gift however to some worthy cause such as the missions or Catholic Charities, since he has already set aside that money, in his intentions, for good use.