M
Maeglin
Guest
I recently returned from a beautiful trip to Italy. It was a wonderful trip, but one aspect of it really bothered me. While there, I visited and prayed in many of the churches in Rome, Florence, Venice, Pisa, and Sienna. The thing that greatly shocked me was that the notable cathedrals and churches charge nominal entrance fees of 2-6 euros.
Not all the notable churches do this - the major basillicas (St. Peter’s, St. Mary Major, St. Pauls, and St. John at the Lateran) do not. But some of the cathedrals outside Rome were pretty bad about this. In fact, St. Mark’s Cathedral in Venice nickel and dimed you for any thing you wanted to see. They let you in free (although most of the church was blocked off with waist high barricades and I couldn’t see any place to kneel or sit and pray). Unfortunately they charged for everything else. A trip to the altar to see the relics and burial spot of St. Mark cost a few euro extra. Want a trip to the dome? That’s a few more Euro. How about the side chapel with some religious art? It’s all yours for two more Euro. In fact, the cathedral at Sienna was charging to use the bathroom.
I got angry at the first few churches I saw and refused to pay for any of this. As a result, I missed out on entering a couple of the churches and didn’t see any of the domes or extra chapels that charged entrance fees. Paying for these things seemed like simony. The other sad part is that the churches I could visit were swamped with tourists looking at art and there didn’t seem to be much prayer or respect. My wife sadly noted that perhaps this was the future of the church in the West - gorgeous buildings abandoned by the faithful and treated like museums of art.
At the end of my trip, I did break down and pay six euro to enter the Cathedral at Pisa and look around and pray with my wife. By that point, I convinced myself that perhaps collecting small entrance fees makes sense since tourists like myself cause a lot of wear and tear on the buildings and create a need for extra security. It makes sense from that perspective, but paying to enter the church felt wrong. I wish they had simply asked for voluntary contributions.
Does anyone think it’s justifiable for popular churches to charge enterance fees during non-mass hours? Or did I participate in simony by paying a fee to pray in the cathedral at Pisa and enjoy its beauty?
Not all the notable churches do this - the major basillicas (St. Peter’s, St. Mary Major, St. Pauls, and St. John at the Lateran) do not. But some of the cathedrals outside Rome were pretty bad about this. In fact, St. Mark’s Cathedral in Venice nickel and dimed you for any thing you wanted to see. They let you in free (although most of the church was blocked off with waist high barricades and I couldn’t see any place to kneel or sit and pray). Unfortunately they charged for everything else. A trip to the altar to see the relics and burial spot of St. Mark cost a few euro extra. Want a trip to the dome? That’s a few more Euro. How about the side chapel with some religious art? It’s all yours for two more Euro. In fact, the cathedral at Sienna was charging to use the bathroom.
I got angry at the first few churches I saw and refused to pay for any of this. As a result, I missed out on entering a couple of the churches and didn’t see any of the domes or extra chapels that charged entrance fees. Paying for these things seemed like simony. The other sad part is that the churches I could visit were swamped with tourists looking at art and there didn’t seem to be much prayer or respect. My wife sadly noted that perhaps this was the future of the church in the West - gorgeous buildings abandoned by the faithful and treated like museums of art.
At the end of my trip, I did break down and pay six euro to enter the Cathedral at Pisa and look around and pray with my wife. By that point, I convinced myself that perhaps collecting small entrance fees makes sense since tourists like myself cause a lot of wear and tear on the buildings and create a need for extra security. It makes sense from that perspective, but paying to enter the church felt wrong. I wish they had simply asked for voluntary contributions.
Does anyone think it’s justifiable for popular churches to charge enterance fees during non-mass hours? Or did I participate in simony by paying a fee to pray in the cathedral at Pisa and enjoy its beauty?
