Posted on 09/27/2015 10:37:39 AM PDT by marshmallow
Edward Pentin's "The Rigging of a Vatican Synod" (links below) is well worth reading. It is subtitled "An Investigation into Alleged Manipulation at the Extraordinary Synod on the Family." One commentator suggested that Ignatius Press must have insisted on the question mark in the main title and the "alleged" in the subtitle. I'm not sure this is fair. Edward Pentin does present a studiously balanced account, giving quotations and arguments from both sides. The evidence that is presented is clear enough, but it is not forced on the reader.
We English are noted for understatement and it can be a powerful debating tool. Pentin genuinely leaves the reader free to make up his own mind, having taken the trouble to obtain replies from those who would take issue with the idea that the Synod was rigged. This results in the case being made more clearly and convincingly than it would be in a tendentious and one-sided account.
For anyone interested in the Synod, Edward Pentin's book is an essential contribution to the growing corpus of meta-studies on the proceedings. There are many nuggets of interest. One which jumped out of the (virtual) page was the comment of Professor Stephan Kampowski in relation to the Kirchensteuer, the German Church Tax. The Catholic Church in Germany receives about £5 billion each year give or take a few million. To stop paying the tax, you have to make an official declaration that you are leaving the Church.
I am not a moral theologian, but I guess that my colleagues in that discipline might be able to argue that there are grounds for making some sort of mental reservation on the grounds that you do not wish to actually renounce the faith, but wish to pay a little less in support of the.....
(Excerpt) Read more at the-hermeneutic-of-continuity.blogspot.com ...
I have NEVER heard of a Church TAX....NEVER!
In the old days the church was fractured over the practice of indulgences or as we would say today, Play for Pay.
How corrupt, on the one hand this Pope is a Marxist, and now he is a bribe taker.
Bribe Taker?? HUH???
It’s a German thing. And all churches get it - if you’re a Lutheran, it goes to the Lutheran Church, for example. It’s collected by the government, although some groups, such as the Jewish community - collect the tax themselves to save on the government’s collection fees.
OMG!!! When did THIS start??
“OMG!!! When did THIS start??”
Apparently, in 1919.
I mean, APPARENTLY, IN 1919!!!!! OMG!!!!!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Church_tax#Germany
I have NEVER heard of a Church TAX?? Where have I BEEN??? Are the Churches EMPTY?
NEITHER HAVE I!!!!!!!
I mean, neither have I. Geez, reading your posts sounds like there is a lot of screaming going on at your house.
Actually, it’s been discussed several times on FR since at least 2012. Here is a link to an article from September 2012.
German bishops get tough on Catholics who opt out of church tax
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/2935665/posts
Put ‘church tax’ in a search engine. Common in Europe.
http://www.christianitytoday.com/ch/news/2002/may17.html
I am shocked!
Some say that the Catholic church gave up the gospel of Christ when they got into banking about 500 years ago.
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