What does it take to get the Catholic church to pay for repairs to a church

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What does it take to get the Catholic church to pay for repairs to a church.
There is a chuch that was damaged by storms on the Island of Inis Mean, Ireland. The storm was badly dmanaged and it will cost 60,000 Euro to repair it. One of the islanders is doing a 30 day run to try to raise money to repair the church, and started a go fund me account. Only 200 people live on the island.


I posted the fundraiser on Facebook Group Gaeilge Amhain. One person commented that it is a church building and it is not right to put the cost on the Island community. He said the church had a lot of money.
The people on the island do not have a lot of money. Some go out in a currach and fish. Some have a B&B,
How do you get the Church to help out.
 
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The catholic church is all of us…so a widely published fundraiser is a good idea. But that specific church provides a service to the island, so I don’t think it’s unreasonable to have the upkeep provided by those who benefit most from it’s presence.
 
In the past it was always the sacrifices of the local community that built their own churches.
 
Karen said:
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How do you get the Church to help out.
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I think that the Aaran Islands are in the Diocese of Galway Kilmacduagh & Kilfenora so it may be prudent to contact Bishop Brendan Kelly in Galway, but that would not help in the short run which will require immediate repairs to keep the church dry.
 
Stephen_says said:
The catholic church is all of us…so a widely published fundraiser is a good idea. But that specific church provides a service to the island, so I don’t think it’s unreasonable to have the upkeep provided by those who benefit most from it’s presence.
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So then saying “the Catholic Church is all of us” is just paying lip service if you think a small group of people should have to, or even be able to pay for the repairs on their own.

Just what exactly do you think the worldwide collections we make should be used for, if not helping a parish literally put a roof over their heads?
 
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We do collections here and bake sales. We also have a fund for handiwork… by pros.

For my older sons school we painted it yes, in all charity we the parents did it. It looked so bad.
But stick a couple of posters the kids made it was ok then.
 
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Irishmom2 said:
So then saying “the Catholic Church is all of us” is just paying lip service if you think a small group of people should have to, or even be able to pay for the repairs on their own.

Just what exactly do you think the worldwide collections we make should be used for, if not helping a parish literally put a roof over their heads?
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Well, it may seem like a huge chunk of cash–but there’s only so much money, and I’m guessing that a large chunk of it goes to feed and house priests and religious around the world who have no other means of support (in other words, they don’t work at a secular job that pays a salary), and who have poor congregations.

I’m guessing that another major chunk goes to charitable causes around the world–feeding, clothing, medical care., etc. for the poorest of the poor who cannot give any money towards their own support.

And I’m guessing that a large amount of the money helps supplement the education of seminarians all over the world–many of these men don’t have money to pay for all the education needed.

I agree that when a parish is poor, it would be nice if the Church chipped in, but I don’t think that helping parishes fix leaky toilets and update the HVAC system–or even paying to repair storm and weather damage (plenty of this happens in the U.S.) or damage from vandalism (again, happens in the U.S.) should be at the top of the list of priorities. The needs I listed above are more urgent. I’m sorry 😦

I’m guessing that there are plenty of Irish Americans (either recently from Ireland, or who have Irish ancestors) who would be interested in contributing. In fact, there are some very wealthy Irish Americans (e.g., the Kennedys) who might contribute a lot!

My husband and I just did a short road trip to visit one of the oldest parishes in Illinois–Irish Grove–and the graveyard is fascinating, dating back to the 18th Century! This area of Illinois is all lush farmlands and lake resorts, with plenty of huge homes built by people who have obviously done well with their finances–I’ll bet they might chip in out of love for their ancestral homeland!

There are plenty of parishes that are home to a large number of Irish-Americans–just google “St. Patrick’s!”

I think this little hard-hit Irish parish on the Island of Inis Mean should start writing some letters, sending some emails, and perhaps developing an online campaign to raise that money before winter!
 
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Peeps said:
Well, it may seem like a huge chunk of cash–but there’s only so much money,
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Our diocese contributed toward an overhaul of our 150 year old church building. There is no way our parishioners could have paid for what was needed.There is money allocated for these things. It is not all going toward helping people, seminarians, and salaries.
 
Irishmom2 said:
Our diocese contributed toward an overhaul of our 150 year old church building. There is no way our parishioners could have paid for what was needed.There is money allocated for these things. It is not all going toward helping people, seminarians, and salaries.
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Well, I certainly hope that the diocese for this unfortunate parish comes through for them. From what I have read about Ireland, these days many Irish have abandoned their Catholic faith, and it’s possible that there is a lack of funds for all but the most pressing needs.

Perhaps the diocese is working on earmarking the funds, but there is some kind of organizational hoop that needs to be jumped through first (e.g., a vote by some financial committee that has to be done in person, but the COVID crisis has made it difficult for them to get together). Maybe the funds are forthcoming, I hope.
 
Irishmom2, can you let us know if there is an address to send money to? Does CAF allow this?

My mother’s family came over to the U.S. from Ireland. And research that I have done on my dad’s family indicates a good possibility that they immigrated to Northern Germany from Wales in the 18th Century, and then moved to the United States at the beginning of the 20th Century.

So I feel a connection to the Emerald Isle and the United Kingdom! I don’t have tons of money, but all the overtime I’ve been working has given me a little extra cash, and I’ve been trying to use it to help out where needed! (and also pay off my debts!).
 
The Parish members likely suffered from the storm as well. I’m uncomfortable with pointing and saying, well, if you want a church, you are responsible to pay for it, when I realize they may be undergoing personal hardships due to the same cause.
 
That’s not really true. I did not pay for any church I have ever attended. I have supported them, but I have not had to pay for one. It is not the responsibility of the parishioners to pay for the repairs of the building on their own. They may find helpful solutions that go towards paying the debt down, but ultimately, they do not own the building, the diocese does. It is their responsibility to keep the buildings up beyond the smaller maintenance and upkeep. Parishioners do not own the building that you think only they should pay for it.
 
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The upkeep of any church is the responsibility of the parishioners. It can’t be any other way. If the building is in such disrepair that it makes holding worship difficult, then perhaps they should locate temporarily to an alternate location like a town hall or library. There are ways of raising significant funds - in this case reaching out to diaspora might be an idea. As a professional church fundraising executive I can provide all sorts of ideas if the parish is interested. They can contact me via private messaging.
 
Irishmom2 said:
but ultimately, they do not own the building, the diocese does.
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This is not true.

The diocese does not own parish property, the parish owns it.

The parishioners build and maintain the buildings, acquire land, maintain any cemetery on the property, rectory, etc.

If the parish is not financially viable, they could be combined with a other or suppressed.
 
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Okay then. I am spoiled by the archdiocese I live within then. Because the area it covers is certainly struggling financially. There is no way each church can fix its own buildings in a catastrophic event such as described in the OP.

Why, if the parish owns the building, would it need the permission of the archdiocese to make any changes to the property or sell off any extra buildings?
 
Irishmom2 said:
Why, if the parish owns the building, would it need the permission of the archdiocese to make any changes to the property or sell off any extra buildings?
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Because the parish still functions under canon law.
 
We are currently in the middle of a major capital works project at our parish, and it’s being funded by the parishioners.
 
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