Germany: a Tax That Could Weaken the Church

Vatican Insider
February 2, 2012

http://vaticaninsider.lastampa.it/en/homepage/world-news/detail/articolo/germania-germany-alemania-12226/

Berlin prior to the Pope's visit last September

The Catholic Church could survive without the revenue from the “Church tax” which is paid by faithful in Germany. In this case however, it would be forced to cut back on initiatives that benefit the community as a whole. This is according to the Bishop of Munich and Freising Reinhard Marx, who gave an interview published in the issue of the German newspaper Die Zeit which will be on sale tomorrow, 2 February. In the interview, the bishop returned once more the controversial appeal to “Entweltlichung” (detachment form the world) launched by Pope Benedict XVI during his visit to Germany in September 2011.

This word has given rise to contrasting interpretations: Was the Pope’s intention to encourage German bishops to renounce all earthly aspects of the Church, starting with the “Kirchensteuer” (Church tax) paid in Germany by all those who openly declare themselves to belong to a religious community recognised by the State, but is really collected by regional public tax offices? Marx says this is not the case: the Pope did not intend to say that the Church should distance itself from the world. Instead, he wanted to give impetus to the role it should play in a pluralistic society: “we want to be at the heart of the world, but not be from this world,” he explained.

“Obviously” the Church could survive without the Church tax, but it would survive in a different way: “in this case, decisions would have to be made as to which tasks the community of the Catholic Church would not be able to take on in the future.” It would be crazy to claim that the Church would collapse without such a tax: if this was the case, the international Church would have disappeared a long time ago – he argued. Marx recalled that the Church is not sustained b the State, but by the faithful: the separation between State and Church remains key. However, he admitted that the implementation of the ecclesiastical tax system in Germany risks weakening the Church. But the Church has emphasised that it is not too wealthy: clearly, in a society in which many faithful contribute to a collective wellbeing, the Church also takes part in this wellbeing. What counts is how the money is spent. It would be naive to think that no one, from the religious orders to the Holy See, has ever invested in shares, funds or banks. “It is also in the interest of those who pay the Church tax that we keep an eye on our revenues. What is important is that our investments are ethically responsible.” However, Bishops should not seek to make a profit, he added.

Marx then said there was “room for improvement” in terms of the style in which the debate within the Catholic Church was conducted. There is an increased tendency to simplify things and see them in black and white, he pointed out. I do not read radical Catholic websites, he added: asking the same question “Who is the best Catholic leader?” again and again only leads to conspiracy theories and attempts to attribute blame, if our message is no longer inclusive but exclusive, that is, of it is only addressed to those within the community, it leads to sectarianism.

As proof that the Church “should not live in a world of its own”, Marx recalled that sometimes he happens to have a dance at village feasts, sometimes even with a woman: the “Schutzenkonigin” -the name given to the wife of the person who wins in the traditional popular competitions organised in Germany. And if someone gives him a dirty look? “Quite frankly I could not care less.”