Tipping your Priest?

[Smber2c]

My brother is living in Mexico City this summer taking college classes. He sent me an e-mail today including the following text:

“I saw a priest accept 100 pesos(about 10 bucks) as a tip for blessing someone’s car earlier this week. I was kind of mad about it, especially since he didn’t try to hide it or explain it(or REFUSE it). Now, it was a voluntary tip, he did’t charge them.”

I’ve personally been tipped as an alter sever after serving at weddings, so I don’t see this as a real problem.

Is the difference contingent on whether the money is a “charge for service” verse a “freely offered gift”?

Are their any official teachings on this?
(seem to remember a Pope making it expressidly forbidden to grand indulgences for money after wide spread corruption - but my reading said nothing on blessings or sacraments)

What are y’alls personal experiences and feelings on tipping a religious for blessings, masses, or what not?

 

[JimG]

Is the difference contingent on whether the money is a “charge for service” verse a “freely offered gift”?

Yes, I think it is. If the priest published a price list for blessings, now that would be a bad sign! And here in the U.S., I’ve never heard of anyone giving stipends or gifts for blessings. But it is customary to give a stipend to a priest who celebrates a wedding (as well as to the altar servers, the organist, and soloist.) The same would go for funerals. But it would most certainly be improper to refuse marriage or burial to anyone who doesn’t give a stipend.

 

[Mirror_Mirror]

Yes, I think it is. If the priest published a price list for blessings, now that would be a bad sign! And here in the U.S., I’ve never heard of anyone giving stipends or gifts for blessings. But it is customary to give a stipend to a priest who celebrates a wedding (as well as to the altar servers, the organist, and soloist.) The same would go for funerals. But it would most certainly be improper to refuse marriage or burial to anyone who doesn’t give a stipend.

I agree, if the priest starts “charging” for the things that he does for you, blessings, weddings, funerals and the such that would be against his vows, I believe. But as Jim mentioned there is a stipend that is given with the amount being decided by the family that is a part of the wedding or funeral. I do not that the priest should be “expecting” to receive money.

 

[Sir_Knight]

And here in the U.S., I’ve never heard of anyone giving stipends or gifts for blessings.

You should have been at my parish a couple of weeks ago when cars were being blessed for the summer vacation. The priest sprinkled Holy Water on the cars (one at a time), gave the blessing, joked that the blessing only holds if the driver stays within the posted speed limit and the entire time an altar boy stood next to the driver side window with a collection basket making it obvious that a contribution was expected.

 

[Smber2c]

You should have been at my parish a couple of weeks ago when cars were being blessed for the summer vacation. The priest sprinkled Holy Water on the cars (one at a time), gave the blessing, joked that the blessing only holds if the driver stays within the posted speed limit and the entire time an altar boy stood next to the driver side window with a collection basket making it obvious that a contribution was expected.

Down here they have the blessing of the fleet, where all the shrimp boats have a priest bless them with holy water. I’m sure there is a good bit of tipping going on there too.

I wonder if Father asked the alter server to bring the collection basket to gather donations, but didn’t really suggest he ‘make it obvious’ that donations were expected.

Since many alter servers are somewhat young, they don’t understand discrection all that well and maybe took initative on asking for money or putting the basket in people’s face, instead of waiting to see of their purse or walets were coming out?

Surely most people would donate during a blessing just to keep from having to push the basket out of their face while everyone is watching, but it seems possible if not likely this would be the result of a child’s exuberance and not a pastor’s direction.

 

[mirandajb]

You should have been at my parish a couple of weeks ago when cars were being blessed for the summer vacation. The priest sprinkled Holy Water on the cars (one at a time), gave the blessing, joked that the blessing only holds if the driver stays within the posted speed limit and the entire time an altar boy stood next to the driver side window with a collection basket making it obvious that a contribution was expected.

Highly improper. Maybe the Vatican should go on a “No tipping” policy

 

[Sir_Knight]

I remember this being the norm even going back four decades when I was an altar boy and we went around for the annual blessings of homes.

 

[Katie1723]

Although it may seem strange, perhaps the priest felt “obligated” to take the offering. Some people think the "have " to tip. And in lieu of a scene, the priest accepted the money and put it in the collection or the poor box.
I don’t understand why we always seem to leap to the worst case scenario.
Kathy

 

[airforcemom]

I see nothing wrong in tipping a priest who does something speical for you such as a blessing - they don’t make very much money and can use a free meal and a tip ocassionally to help out. Although most of their expenses are paid by the parishioners in some parishes where the collections barely cover the cost of keeping the church and office doors opened a few extra dollars so they can eat out is hard to come by. I know some priest in the poorer parishes turn the “tips” in for extra church income. The boat blessings in lower St. Bernard Parish usually brought in extra money for the church to use for upkeep and other things - it was not kept by the priest for his personal use. The intake for the churches in that area depended a good deal on how well the fishermen did that year. I personally would not tip for a rosary blessing but if I asked a priest to come to my home to bless it I would certainly have dinner prepared and a thank you card with a few dollars in it. I have even had a priest bless an office that I worked in - we had many things happen and all agreed it would be a good idea (even the non-Catholics) and I took him to lunch following it - he would take anything else from me and he was no longer the priest of my parish church but just a great friend.