Posted on 09/22/2012 9:58:53 AM PDT by DeaconBenjamin
The Catholic Church in Germany is urging its followers to put their money where their faith is. Under a new rule, anyone who doesn’t pay church tax will no longer be considered a member of the flock.
Catholics who decide to skip the tax will be unable to receive Communion, be confirmed or go to confession, Die Welt newspaper wrote on Thursday. The rule, which takes effect on September 24, also bars non-payers from becoming godparents or belonging to a Catholic congregation.
Critics have argued that believers can still count themselves as members of the Catholic community and practice their faith without paying the church tax – which amounts to 8 or 9 percent of a person’s income, depending on the state.
A “general decree” published on Thursday by the German Bishops Conference says church-leavers have violated their obligation to make a “financial contribution that allows the church to fulfill its role.”
Die Welt reported that Pope Benedict XVI personally approved the document, which puts an end to months of wrangling over the issue.
Couples can receive an exemption to be married in the church, as long as they pledge to maintain their faith and raise their children as Catholics. But the powers that be can deny church tax dodgers a Catholic burial “if the person who has left the church has not shown any sign of remorse before death.”
Though the bishops’ text avoids the word “excommunication,” the consequences of the all-or-nothing rule are essentially the same.
If a Catholic notifies the registry office that he has chosen to renounce his faith, thereby allowing him to stop paying church tax, he will receive a letter from a priest that includes a list detailing the consequences of his decision – and an offer to meet for “reconciliation” talks.
More than 100,000 people have left the Catholic Church in Germany each year since 1990 – with more than 126,000 deciding to part ways with the church last year.
Thanks, those are good points.
I'm sure we will see more details in coming days
Dear Vlad,
No need to be defensive. I did not assume anything.
Defensive? You didn’t assume anything?
You wrote this:
“Show me Catholic dogma that says if someone is poor and incapable of paying a tax they will be denied Communion?”
aren’t you assuming that I said that Catholic dogma says if someone is poor and incapable of paying a tax they will be denied Communion?
Come on, now.
No , because you and I both know there is not dogma that says this
I realize other people read these threads, so it's not a bad thing to bring forth questions we know the answer to amongst Catholic's who know their faith so that others can see.
Everybody knows how much worse the killing would have been if the Church supported Nazism; I’m sure most Catholics of the time knew how much worse Communism was (The examples of Spain and Ukraine were there for all to see), and simply watched 2 devils fight it out hoping to come through it alive.
The “Church Tax” is a TITHE, or like an income tax. If you don’t have an income, you don’t pay the tax....or tithe.
Denying someone communion for removing himself from the Church tax rolls means they DID have an income: i.e. it won’t apply to indigent people without income enough to pay taxes (or a tithe).
Also, when von Stauffenberg sought permission from his Bishop to assassinate Hitler it was a Catholic he spoke with, Cardinal Peysing, not a protestant.
I agree. My point was to make sure that others would not jump in and call the Church an elitist sort of club with no compassion for the poor. The Catholic Church does more for the poor far beyond any country in the world
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