Is the tithe required?

[trumpet152]

What is the Catholic stance on giving? Does it require a 10% tithe of all income as do many Protestants?

 

[sententia]

No, there is no set amount, and one may contribute to their church not just or only monetarily, but also through volunteering and using their abilities to help the parish function.

 

[CarolAnnSFO]

trumpet152:

What is the Catholic stance on giving? Does it require a 10% tithe of all income as do many Protestants?

The answer is, indeed, “no” – here it is, from three different apologists:

http://forums.catholic-questions.org/showthread.php?t=62454&highlight=tithing

http://forums.catholic-questions.org/showthread.php?t=31554&highlight=tithing

http://forums.catholic-questions.org/showthread.php?t=13994&highlight=tithing

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[YinYangMom]

Follow up question then…

while it’s not required…if I wanted to aim toward the goal of tithing in my effort to help the Church are there any links to guidelines, recommendations on how to break that 10% up??

Every year we get the Diocesan Stewardship, the Mission Appeals, the weekly building fund requests, then the ministries (food pantries, DePaul Society, Catholic Daughters, Knights of Columbus, etc.), oh, and I don’t want to forget these Forums, Relevant Radio, Ave Maria Radio.

10% of my meager salary doesn’t go very far at all if I’m to spread it out among all these

 

[sententia]

I think at our rcia we teach- if one wants to follow the 10- 5% parish, 3% diocese and 2% charity-stuff

 

[johnshelby]

the tithe was based on Jewish law… the old law… in those days,
widows, orphans, the cripple and poor… they had one place to
go for help… the temple… so, the first tenth of all a man’s fruit,
or works, were to be given to the temple… for support of these
needy people, and to support the temple… given to God…

now, we have programs to help the people, so the temple or
Church is not the only resourse that people have to call upon…
that is why we should pay our due taxes, and consider, at least
some of them, as help to those who need our help…

there are some who can’t afford to give 10 percent, and some
who could afford to give much more… personally, i like the old…
“give what you can, then give 1 dollar more” rule… and as
for how to split it up… in our parish, the parish is quick to help
Catholic charities, or the diocese whenever there is a surplus
of funds avaliable… so, it’s not like they are hoarding money…

 

[Montie_Claunch]

While it is not required, it is still a nice thing to do. I think that god taged a rewarded onto tithing so one might like to. I myself try to tithe (because I didn’t get to go to church as a child or adolecent I have a lot of back tithe)

 

[Steven_Merten]

Hello Trumpet,

I have heard that Catholics, on average, pay less than one percent of their income to God. Though, yes we are not demanded to tithe by the Church, I think that in gaging ourselves (Catholics), we, as a whole, fall far short of what God intends for both Old Testament and New Testament people. Gaging ourselves (the Church) and working on this short fall should be a focus of the Church (1.1 billion Catholics).

 

[Maranatha]

Does anyone have a Biblical quote, probably Old Testament, that states a tithe is the first 10th?

 

[CarolAnnSFO]

Maranatha:

Does anyone have a Biblical quote, probably Old Testament, that states a tithe is the first 10th?

Here’s Leviticus 27:32; it doesn’t say the “first tenth”, but it mentions every tenth animal:

Lev 27:32: The tithes of the herd and the flock shall be determined by ceding to the LORD as sacred every tenth animal as they are counted by the herdsman’s rod.

Or before that (Jacob speaking):

Gen 28:22: This stone that I have set up as a memorial stone shall be God’s abode. Of everything you give me, I will faithfully return a tenth part to you.

(I actually found many more references of a certain portion being given to the Lord, without a percentage being specified. )

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[johnshelby]

first fruit of labor…

Exodus 22:29-30 (King James Version)
29 Thou shalt not delay to offer the first of thy ripe fruits, and of thy liquors: the firstborn of thy sons shalt thou give unto me.
30 Likewise shalt thou do with thine oxen, and with thy sheep: seven days it shall be with his dam; on the eighth day thou shalt give it me.

Exodus 22:28-29 NAB
28 "You shall not delay the offering of your harvest and your press. You shall give me the first-born of your sons.
29 You must do the same with your oxen and your sheep; for seven days the firstling may stay with its mother, but on the eighth day you must give it to me.

do not delay, or give the first fruit… plus first born, and first born
of all sheep and oxen…

is this what you were looking for??

 

[riverman]

YinYangMom:

Every year we get the Diocesan Stewardship, the Mission Appeals, the weekly building fund requests, then the ministries (food pantries, DePaul Society, Catholic Daughters, Knights of Columbus, etc.), oh, and I don’t want to forget these Forums, Relevant Radio, Ave Maria Radio.

Please do not forget about EWTN. They are in need of donations too! I plan on stopping by the Shrine of the Blessed Sacrament on my drive back home later this month and leave them a heartfelt donation. I am growing addicted to EWTN beng seperated from my family for this 6 weeks! That is a good thing though! LOL

 

[LindaS]

My dh & I choose to tithe, even though it isn’t required. We give 5% to our parish and divide the other 5% among several charities that we have chosen. Works for us!

Peace,
Linda

 

[puzzleannie]

one of the 7 laws of the Church is that every Catholic has the duty to support the Church. a specific dollar amount or percentage is not given or required. In the past depending on civil law of various countries a tithe or church tax was required. These were the basis for a lot of the wars of religion and controversies. Example: the anti-establishment clause of the US constitution was a reaction to the requirement in England that everyone, no matter what there religious affiliation, was taxed to support the Church of England (Anglican).

 

[YinYangMom]

LindaS:

My dh & I choose to tithe, even though it isn’t required. We give 5% to our parish and divide the other 5% among several charities that we have chosen. Works for us!

Peace,
Linda

So when you say 5% to your parish - that’s directly to your local church for operations, building & maintenance, etc., right?

of the other 5%…is that where you put in the diocesan appeals, EWTN (thanks, Riverman for the reminder), Relevant Radio, Ave Maria Radio, the parish food pantry and catholic school fundraisers…along with American Cancer Society, the Fireman’s Fund, the Policeman’s Ball, etc?

That’s where I start feeling overwhelmed…by the time I spread out that other 5% over all the causes which critically need my support I feel I’m just a drop in the bucket for them…

Any advice is welcome.

 

[puzzleannie]

We used to work for stewardship committee of old diocese researching and giving talks on tithing – if every parishioner who is working would give 5% of his pay to the Church every child in the parish could attend Catholic school, the parish would have no debt, and would need no other fundraisers for social concerns and other outreach programs.

 

[hilde_the_dog]

Our parish strongly hints at tithing as on our envelopes it has a breakdown of what 5% is for X amount of money you earn per week. and lists this for parish and charities

 

[newf]

In regard to Ying Yang’s question about what to do with the other 5%…I don’t think you need to try to cover every organization asking for money…just choose a couple ministries that are close to your heart and go with those.

We aren’t called to give to everyone. We have to trust God will provide for what we cannot do.