Rethinking Church Funding, Vatican Insider, December 5, 2011

Rethinking Church Funding

Vatican Insider
December 5, 2011

http://vaticaninsider.lastampa.it/en/homepage/inquiries-and-interviews/detail/articolo/finanziamento-chiesa-church-funding-fondos-para-la-iglesia-10535/

The economic crisis and Catholics "addiction" to State support, once again question the efficiency of the Church's financial support mechanism, especially in Europe. A study by the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross, looks into this

Will the world economic crisis also hit the Church and its "coffers"? This question is not only being asked in Countries such as the U.S. where the Catholic Church – like all other religious denominations – receives most of its funding from donations made by the faithful, particularly those who are wealthy.

There are many financial support mechanisms in Europe and these often involve direct input by the State.

The most dramatic examples of this can be seen in Italy and Germany: In Italy, there is the "eight per thousand" law, according to which Italian taxpayers can choose to devolve 0.8% ('eight per thousand') from their annual income tax return to their Church. In Germany, registered faithful pay a "church tax" that goes towards supporting their religious organisation.

These systems, however, are, to a greater or lesser extent, showing signs of crisis. In Germany, the paedophilia scandal has caused almost 200 thousand Catholics to officially leave the Catholic Church in 2010, and thus to stop paying the church tax. In Italy, although the number of people choosing to sign up to the "eight per thousand" law is growing, the number of Catholics doing so has gradually dropped in percentage terms over the past few years.

Meanwhile, fresh attempts – also made by the Italian Episcopal Conference – to encourage faithful to provide direct and voluntary financial support, have been unsuccessful. There is therefore a need to re-think the Church's financial systems on a global level, particularly in view of the lean times ahead.

To respond to this challenge, the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross, has set up a European workgroup that will provide administrative and economic support to the Church. Professor Jesús Miñambres, explained to Vatican Insider that the aim of this workgroup was to "offer a scientific (judicial, pastoral ecclesiological, moral, communicative etc.) base to a section of Church life that cannot be ignored without shattering the very essence of it, the management of its assets, that is."

CASE – as the initiative is called – started looking into the ways in which the concept of "stewardship", a practice which is very common in the U.S., and involves faithful managing their Church, could be brought over to the Old Continent.

In the Christian context, Professor Miñambres explained, the notion of "stewardship" is "very broad": It encompasses many aspects of collaboration between all faithful in the Church's mission, both in the administration of its various bodies and in the preaching and celebration of the faith."

The Professor recalled a key passage in the Gospel, in which the term is used in Peter's first letter: "Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God's grace in its various forms."

In an economic sense, the notion of "stewardship" was "also studied by economists for so-called "mission" organisations, particularly in the third sector." In 1992, U.S. bishops applied the concept themselves, in a document regarding economic support for the Church, entitled "Stewardship: A Disciple's Response".

Miñambres explained that the document presented "stewardship" as a response provided by the disciples of Christ, which showed appreciation for the gifts received and commitment to using these gifts, according to one's personal ability (in order to manage them well)."

This is what is meant by "all faithful getting involved in the retrieval of resources needed for the mission" and "transparency in the management of these resources, the so-called "accountability".

However, it is difficult to conceive how this model will be adopted fully in Europe, where "due to the diverse historical origin of relations between church and civil authorities, in many European countries there are agreements in force which have led the State to favour support to the Church."

Whilst in the United States "the U.S. faithful are used to finance all ecclesiastic initiatives directly," their European counterparts, Miñambres said, "also count on the help of the State."

During the meeting held at the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross, last 23 November, Mgr. Mauro Rivella, Undersecretary of the Italian Episcopal Conference, lamented that the risk, at least in the case of Italy, is that this will create an "addiction" to State help, that could take away responsibility from the faithful.

Mgr. Rivella recalled that the Church needs resources in order to ensure "it can achieve its objectives: the decorum of worship, the support of the clergy and its apostolic and charity work." This is why, he said, it is important "to study the current financial mechanism, so that each Catholic does not lose sight of the need to make their own personal contribution, including economic, to show that they belong to the Church."

According to Professor Miñambres, the fact that risk of "addiction" is present, shows how diverse funding mechanisms are in Europe. There is such a big difference, for example, between the Italian and German mechanism, that "the two cannot be compared."

Whilst "Germany's system poses serious problems which are constantly being studied and monitored both by Churches and scholars," the system in Italy seems to work.

Even voluntary offerings have not seen any success in terms of direct support. According to Miñambres, one should, however, bear in mind the generosity shown by faithful to organisations such as Caritas.

What is certain, - the professor concluded – in the light of the Pope's comments in Freiburg,

is that "the means and methods used to tender to someone's needs need to be re-thought". This need is true for "every living entity", including the Church: "Which family, which enterprise does not constantly think of ways to support itself? Not just to gain more, but in order to improve itself."

"Poverty," he added, "is a fundamental characteristic of the Church and it is a virtue that all of Christ's disciples must personally experience." Thus, the Church as an institution, "must use the material assets it possesses to meet its objectives." These "constitute a "filter" for the legitimacy of purchases, management and alienation of Church assets."

According to Miñambres, the question should not be seen in terms of "more" or "less" resources, but rather, in terms of "being able to achieve objectives set, through the necessary means." "Not just in order to gain more, – he concluded – but above all to become better. This is one of the aspects which the study on "stewardship" tends to underline: the importance of being over having."