How are priests paid?

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Do they receive their salaries from the diocese, indirectly by the parish, their order? I am more interested in how parish priests.
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How are they paid? Usually not enough for all the work they’re forced to do!!! 😉
 
Would not it be a bit different for religious priests, almost all of whom are under vows of poverty? For one thing, it probably depends upon the austerity of the particular order.
 
Would not it be a bit different for religious priests, almost all of whom are under vows of poverty? For one thing, it probably depends upon the austerity of the particular order.
It is different for religious; I’m not sure of the details.
 
Parish priests are paid by the parish, but it is my understanding that the amount is set by the diocese. That is, every associate pastor in diocese X receives the same amount. Secular (diocesan) priests do not take vows of poverty, so they are net required to turn over personal possessions when they are ordained. So a priest from a wealthy family or who had a career before seminary may have a ‘nest egg’ in the bank. Secular priests may also accept gifts of money. A bishop may certainly have guidelines about this in his diocese, but I don’t believe he can require a priest to return or give away money given to him. Obviously a priest may choose to use any money he has on charity or other good works, but he can also have a stash of cashmere sweaters. 😛
 
Would not it be a bit different for religious priests, almost all of whom are under vows of poverty? For one thing, it probably depends upon the austerity of the particular order.
If we’re talking about payment for a religious priest or priests working in a parish, usually it works by having the stipend or salary that would be paid to the diocesan priest paid instead to the religious institute, who then make particular decisions on how the religious priest will manage financially in their house within the parish. They could delegate such decisions to the individual religious, or they may have broader guidelines on how the institute deals with finances to which the religious priest will be bound.
 
…to the individual religious…
individual religious = an order, like Franciscan or Domincan?

“Secular priests”?? secular priest = a priest who isn’t in an order, who works for his doicese?
 
If we’re talking about payment for a religious priest or priests working in a parish, usually it works by having the stipend or salary that would be paid to the diocesan priest paid instead to the religious institute, who then make particular decisions on how the religious priest will manage financially in their house within the parish. They could delegate such decisions to the individual religious, or they may have broader guidelines on how the institute deals with finances to which the religious priest will be bound.
Thank you.
 
individual religious = an order, like Franciscan or Domincan?

“Secular priests”?? secular priest = a priest who isn’t in an order, who works for his doicese?
I think so; *secular priest * always refers to one who does not belong to a religious order(i.e. lay orders also exist, as do oblates of ones that are religious).
 
“(i.e. lay orders also exist, as do oblates of ones that are religious).”

Lay orders? Oblates?
 
“(i.e. lay orders also exist, as do oblates of ones that are religious).”

Lay orders? Oblates?
I am sorry! There are, for instance, secular oblates among the Benedictines, who(the oblates) are similar to those within lay orders(e.g. Congregation of the Oratory- only made up of secular priests, Secular Franciscans- layman can join). Unforunately, I am in a hurry, so I cannot currently explain it better.
 
individual religious = an order, like Franciscan or Domincan?
An individual member of an ‘institute of consecrated life’ (the generic term that includes religious orders, congregations and confederations), such as a Franciscan friar or Benedictine monk.
“Secular priests”?? secular priest = a priest who isn’t in an order, who works for his doicese?
A priest who doesn’t belong to an institute of consecrated life, although (confusingly!) they might belong to a secular institute like a third order; this is not the same as belonging to an institute of consecrated life, because in a secular institute one only takes private rather than public vows, and these have a different status under canon law. ‘Consecrated’ as in ‘consecrated life’ means the taking of public vows.

It is complicated, isn’t it? 🙂
 
“(i.e. lay orders also exist, as do oblates of ones that are religious).”

Lay orders? Oblates?
‘Lay orders’ is a slightly misleading term, although many people often make use of these kinds of labels, so it does take a little unpicking. As I said in the post above, the generic term for religious life is an ‘institute of consecrated life’; there are actually relatively few religious orders, and most institutes are congregations, and some are termed federations or confederations.

Institutes can also be lay, clerical, or mixed (both clerical and lay). That is to say, their members may be the non-ordained i.e. lay people, or the ordained (priests and deacons), or a combination of both (a mixture of lay and ordained members).

‘Lay’ does not mean people outside of religious life: it actually means anyone who is not an ordained cleric, including all religious brothers and all female religious. The proper term for someone who does not belong to a religious institute is ‘secular’. Thus it is that someone can be a ‘secular priest’, being ordained but not a member of a religious institute.

Secular institutes are those that follow a particular charism or spirituality but do not take public vows, and this may include priests who are not members of an institute of consecrated life. ‘Oblate’ is another term for a person who has made a similar form of association with a religious institute, but again, has not taken public vows.

Another take on this subject can be found at: forums.catholic-questions.org/showthread.php?p=6270401#post6270401

I do hope this makes sense! If not, my apologies.
 
I appreciate your more detailed explanation. As my mentioning of the Oratorians, they are exclusively clerical yet do not make any religious vows(there are simple and solemn vows, the latter of whom are made by members of orders, per se, who are typically either monks or friars).
 
Would not it be a bit different for religious priests, almost all of whom are under vows of poverty? For one thing, it probably depends upon the austerity of the particular order.
i got this from my parish priest during announcements when he was asking for donations to this fund that goes for retired priests

religious priests receive salaries but they immediately turn these over to their religious order. this in turn funds for their works (missions, charity, etc) as well as the retirement of their priests.

those who are diocesan don’t have the backing of such an order, and would have to keep their salary for their own use after they retire. as it is, there may be funds set up for retired diocesan priests and the faithful are asked to donate into that fund. they also spend for the other things they need, they pay for their own car, etc.
 
I don’t know if this has been properly cleared up, so my apologies if the original poster already understands this.

A priest from a religious order takes vows of poverty (I don’t believe there are orders that do not at least indirectly include poverty, please correct me if I’m mistaken). In that case, as was said above, the salary the priest would make from the parish, school, etc. where he works would always go directly to his order. The order pays for the priest’s food, transportation, health care, retirement, everything. That is the idea of a religious order, EVERYTHING (including the paycheck) belongs to the entire community, and these community funds are used to look after the needs of all members.

Ocarm, maybe I was confused by one of your posts, but did you say that a secular priest may belong to a 3rd order? I’m very interested in that, I’ve never known whether that is possibly.

In Christ,
Frank
 
i got this from my parish priest during announcements when he was asking for donations to this fund that goes for retired priests

religious priests receive salaries but they immediately turn these over to their religious order. this in turn funds for their works (missions, charity, etc) as well as the retirement of their priests.

those who are diocesan don’t have the backing of such an order, and would have to keep their salary for their own use after they retire. as it is, there may be funds set up for retired diocesan priests and the faithful are asked to donate into that fund. they also spend for the other things they need, they pay for their own car, etc.
All right.
 
Ocarm, maybe I was confused by one of your posts, but did you say that a secular priest may belong to a 3rd order? I’m very interested in that, I’ve never known whether that is possibly.
A secular priest can belong to a secular institute, yes, including those that are affiliated to religious institutes in the fashion of third orders. Not all secular institutes are third orders, however; some exist in their own right, or as a different kind of affiliate that shares aspects of the charism of a religious institute but is not juridically responsible to it as third orders are.

Hope that’s clear.🙂
 
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