Austria: Catholic diocese fined for mass texts asking followers to pay their membership dues

Washington Post ^ | September 24, 2013 | AP

[Alex Murphy]

A diocese in the southern city of Graz says it has been found guilty of contravening Austria’s telecommunications law by sending mass texts to the cellphones of followers asking them to pay overdue membership fees. Members of recognized religions in Austria must pay so-called “church taxes” or opt out of membership. For a Catholic, non-payment would mean no right to church sacraments.

[Alex Murphy]

Members of recognized religions in Austria must pay so-called “church taxes” or opt out of membership. For a Catholic, non-payment would mean no right to church sacraments.

According to this thread, "Austrian law forces residents registered as followers of most recognized religions to pay a small percentage of their earnings toward support of their churches or temples." I'm not completely familiar with the Austrian law on the matter, but I imagine it's like the laws in Spain, wherein the church is 20% state-funded via income taxes, or Hungary, where the state matches private contributions with tax dollars.

[GeronL]

lol.

You can be saved by Christ without paying dues to an earthly bureaucracy!

[LibFreeUSA]

"...For a Catholic, non-payment would mean no right to church sacraments."

Wait till this new Pope hears about that.

[Alex Murphy]

"...For a Catholic, non-payment would mean no right to church sacraments."

Sound familiar?

[Zathras]

It was sad to see how these taxes are crushing Spain and Portugal.
24k gold plated monuments to man sitting there empty.
Portugal is far worse. People barely surviving and all trying to re-live the past.

For those who don't think it could happen here, Portugal once controlled 1/2 the worlds commerce.

[Alex Murphy]

It was sad to see how these taxes are crushing Spain and Portugal....For those who don't think it could happen here, Portugal once controlled 1/2 the worlds commerce.

I did not know that!

[Campion]

The "recognized religions" in Austria for tax purposes are (according to Wikipedia): the Roman Catholic Church, the Protestant churches (Lutheran and Presbyterian, called "Augsburger" and "Helvetic" confessions), Islamic community, Old Catholic Church, Jewish community, Eastern Orthodox Church (Russian, Greek, Serbian, Romanian, and Bulgarian), Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons), New Apostolic Church, Syrian Orthodox Church, Armenian Apostolic Church, Methodist Church of Austria, Buddhist community, and Coptic Orthodox Church.

Taxpayers presumably check a box on their return for one of those 13 groups, or "none of the above".

[Gamecock]

Salvation isn’t free!

[Gamecock]

There are a lot of Evangelical churches springing up around Europe that are not recognized by the government. Known as Freie Gemeinde in the Germanic countries, these churches are growing rapidly and since they are not recognized they recieve NO taxpayer support.

[smvoice]

“Render unto Caesar what is Caesar’s”...and give the devil his due..

[Zathras]

I spent 3 weeks in Spain and Portugal back in 2002.
There is a statue to Henry the Navigator in Lisbon.
To this day he is a bigger name than Magellan in Portugal as he setup the early trade routes.

It was a fascinating trip!