Sacramental Fees sheet I got by accident

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StrawberryJam

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I was at a different parish then I normally go to, and a nice lady asked if I was new and gave me stacks of paper. I smiled, and thanked her and never thought about it again, and only looked at some of the stuff today. One sheet caught my attention. The Sacrament Fee sheet.
Reconciliation with First Holy Communion- 35.00
Confirmation- 40.00
Confirmation and Gown 15.00
note: (8th grade individual enrollment fee, 80.00
Fees for Confirmation are usually collected with the enrollment in 7th grade.

Seems like a bargain in price, but seems so odd to be priced in this way.

Is this Kosher?
 
No church can charge for the sacraments. That’s the sin of simony, and it’s also a very serious ecclesiastical crime. So I would hope that this is either a sheet of suggested donations, or a list of fees for non-sacramental things, like gown rental and confirmation classes. Another possibility is that it was prepared by some random secretary or parish school vice-principal who has no idea what she’s doing.

In any event, it’s worded incredibly badly, and I think you would do well to bring it to the pastor’s attention as soon as possible. Good catch.
 
StrawberryJam said:
I was at a different parish then I normally go to, and a nice lady asked if I was new and gave me stacks of paper. I smiled, and thanked her and never thought about it again, and only looked at some of the stuff today. One sheet caught my attention. The Sacrament Fee sheet.
Reconciliation with First Holy Communion- 35.00
Confirmation- 40.00
Confirmation and Gown 15.00
note: (8th grade individual enrollment fee, 80.00
Fees for Confirmation are usually collected with the enrollment in 7th grade.

Seems like a bargain in price, but seems so odd to be priced in this way.

Is this Kosher?
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I think that it is really kosher even if it is presented in a really poor manner. I am always complaining that proper language should be used in documents because they are representative of the specific organization, whether it is a parish, a diocese or something else.

Fees for sacramental preparation are a basic need. They usually cover textbooks, use of facilities, non classroom activities etc. Catechetical classes are not the only part or faith formation and usually anything special and/or different costs money. Catechists are in the same situation of school teachers where quite often they use their own money to get the work done.
 
StrawberryJam said:
I Seems like a bargain in price, but seems so odd to be priced in this way.

Is this Kosher?
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no the secretary who typed this needs Remedial Canon Law or Remedial What a Parish Secretary Should Know.

There. Are. NO. Fees. For. Sacraments. In. The. Catholic. Church.

she needs to sit down with her pastor and revise this information, possible to read:
fees to cover books and supplies for sacramental preparation programs are:
and so forth.

I can’t believe they put gowns on Jr. High Confirmation candidates, ours would protest, but maybe you could get away with it for younger kids. This diocese discourages gowns, stoles or any other add-ons that are not part of the Confirmation liturgy
 
Having read over this a distinction does need to be made in this regard. While a parish or priest may charge for the necessary classes to recieve a sacrement, they may not charge for the actual reception of sacrements. That is indeed simony and is a violation of canon law. In our diocese, some years back the former Bishop put in place that priests cannot charge for their services for sacrements especially regarding weddings or funerals because the diocese pays them a salary for their job which includes these functions. Funeral homes will often charge the bereaved as much as $100 for the priest’s honorarium which would mean he’s getting paid to preach. The same is also true for wedding planners. Also a general rule of thumb is that if the participant or in cases of minors can’t pay they are not to be refused for that reason.
 
1ke said:
What do you find *odd *about the pricing?
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The five dollar difference with Reconciliation with First Holy Communion and Confirmation.

Shouldn’t it be the other way around? Reconciliation is Confession right? It seems like you are getting 2 sacraments for a bit less money.
 
puzzleannie said:
I can’t believe they put gowns on Jr. High Confirmation candidates, ours would protest, but maybe you could get away with it for younger kids.
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I can’t either. Our Confirmation candidates are typically in Grade 6. We tell them, “Dress as if for Church,” and we still get a certain amount of howling, especially from the girls. Confirmation gowns would definitely go over like a lead balloon - they’d find some way to either lose them or wreck them. 🤷
 
This sheet was prepared by the Director of Religious Education.
I spared you an annoying typing thing she did in this letter. She likes using the @ symbol a lot.
 
to add to and clarify what scotty says, yes there is a set stipend for funerals, weddings etc. that the parish must pay to a visiting priest, to the deacon and so forth who is not on salary and that cost may be passed on to the recipient(s) of the sacrament. For instance if we ask seerl priests to come help with first confession, we have to pay them all and there is a set schedule for those stipends, but here the parish picks up that cost.
 
StrawberryJam said:
The five dollar difference with Reconciliation with First Holy Communion and Confirmation.

Shouldn’t it be the other way around? Reconciliation is Confession right? It seems like you are getting 2 sacraments for a bit less money.
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Younger kids = fewer materials, and the books are less expensive - plus, it’s a bigger crowd, which means that they can buy the books and craft supplies in bulk.
 
jmcrae said:
Younger kids = fewer materials, and the books are less expensive - plus, it’s a bigger crowd, which means that they can buy the books and craft supplies in bulk.
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Okay, makes sense.

So she just worded this badly, there isn’t any violation happening here then.

Hope you are staying cool, it’s like stepping into an oven outside here in the Midwest today.
 
StrawberryJam said:
Okay, makes sense.

So she just worded this badly, there isn’t any violation happening here then.
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I hope not. I’d want to clarify that the fees are for the books and materials used in the classes. It’s weird that there are three prices for Confirmation - $40.00, $15.00, and then $80.00. :confused:
Hope you are staying cool, it’s like stepping into an oven outside here in the Midwest today.
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I’ve got all the fans on. I haven’t been outside yet today.
 
StrawberryJam said:
Okay, makes sense.

So she just worded this badly, there isn’t any violation happening here then.

Hope you are staying cool, it’s like stepping into an oven outside here in the Midwest today.
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Funny - we had a snow storm here today!
 
belmontmac said:
It is hot and humid in the midwest isn’t it…
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I’m going to try cooking some eggs outside in a pouch of aluminum foil. I’ll butter it really good, add a few eggs barely scrambled and toss some chive from my garden on top. Seal it up and see how long it takes before my eggs are ready for consumption. I’ll save on cleanup this way also.
 
Unfortunate they were worded so poorly. In my experience, these costs were labeled as “stipends” and “suggested donations.” When my wife and I married, even the costs for the parish’s Altar Society (to clean up after we were done) and organ maintenance were labeled as a donation (though the organist herself refused any stipend).
 
StrawberryJam said:
The five dollar difference with Reconciliation with First Holy Communion and Confirmation.

Shouldn’t it be the other way around? Reconciliation is Confession right? It seems like you are getting 2 sacraments for a bit less money.
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Well, I am the coordinator for RE in my parish. For our sacrament prep First Rec/First Holy Communion is $20 and Confirmation is $40.

In addition to books and such, we have retreats. The 2nd graders have a 3 hour retreat and it’s all in house. The confirmation kids have a full day retreat and we bring in a speaker. So, there’s more cost to the Confirmation prep class.

There is also the stipend to the Bishopfor confirmation, but the parish pays this b/c it’s a lot.
 
I once did a wedding for a couple at a las vegas hotel. the couple wanted a priest, so they contacted me. I told them I don’t ever charge but they could donate to my church if they like. the wedding must have cost over 35000.00. I had a cordinator to cordinator me. the bride wanted to know what color my vestments were. the hotel gave me a check for 50.00 and a coupon for half off at the buffet. I gave the money to my church, and used the buffet coupon myself. 😃
 
FrCorey said:
I once did a wedding for a couple at a las vegas hotel. the couple wanted a priest, so they contacted me. I told them I don’t ever charge but they could donate to my church if they like. the wedding must have cost over 35000.00. I had a cordinator to cordinator me. the bride wanted to know what color my vestments were. the hotel gave me a check for 50.00 and a coupon for half off at the buffet. I gave the money to my church, and used the buffet coupon myself. 😃
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:eek::mad:

You got a check for 50.00???

I’m going to take a deep breath and log off now, so I don’t end up posting what is REALLY on my mind right now that will get me banned for certain.
 
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