Dear Cardinal Marx (how to revive the Catholic Church in Germany)

Last updated on: October 13, 2015 at 11:25 am by Jane the Actuary

Dear Cardinal Marx (how to revive the Catholic Church in Germany) 2015-10-13T11:25:23-06:00 Jane the Actuary

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Dear Cardinal Marx,*

It’s been reported in the (U.S. Catholic) news that, as archbishop of Munich and Freising, you and your fellow German bishops are threatening to change church teaching regarding remarriage, and maybe other areas regarding sexuality and the family as well, such as those having to do with same-sex couples, in the name of “pastoral care.” You seem to believe that this action will revive the fortunes of the Catholic Church in Germany, which is losing adherents year after year.

And perhaps you’ll gain a few new members, or at any rate, a few individuals will choose to continue staying on the rolls — though you may lose just as many who feel cheated by having struggled through a difficult marriage and now feel like suckers for it.

But if you really want to revive the church, rather than just keep the money flowing in, it’s time for a bigger change, one that’s more radical, and more challenging. Yes: get rid of the church tax. Regular readers of mine will know that I talked about this yesterday here, but I felt it merited addressing more directly.

Yes, I know that the church tax was intended to keep the church strong. My first German teacher, in Germany, told us that the objective was to ensure that the church wouldn’t be co-opted by the government but would be able to speak against injustice, even if perpetrated by the government itself. But it’s making things worse, not better.

Here are three key reasons to abandon the tax:

1) Unlike the voluntary contributions Americans make to their churches, the German church tax is an all-or-nothing extra 9% of income tax. With no option to simply pay less church tax, more and more of your flock is choosing “nothing.”

2) Church tax, being centralized, doesn’t reward local parishes who actually work to reach out and minister. So far as I understand, the funds are allocated to parishes based on the total count of registered Catholics who live within predefined geographic borders, without regard to how many attend services or are involved in the church in any other way. True, baskets are passed during mass, but the practice of tossing in a few coins rather than foldin’ money means this makes little difference. Once could even say that this system penalizes churches who work at ministering, given staffing costs, the cost of keeping the building heated, and all the extra costs that don’t result in any additional donations coming their way. It also seems to me that the very centralized nature of church tax collection seems to be encouraging leadership to aim for centralized “quick fixes” such as retreating from unpopular doctrine, rather than encouraging local parishes to reach out. Certainly, there is a definite benefit to the fact that, if one American parish disappoints its parishioners, they will vote with their feet, and pocketbooks, by going elsewhere.

3) Church tax is corrupting. Let’s fact it: we in the U.S. had the sexual abuse crisis; you’ve got the “bishop of bling.” And rather than seeing the growing number of de-registrations as a need for change, you’re doubling-down on denial of sacraments to those who refuse to pay up. Do you not see how wrong this is? Is this not in itself a demonstration that the church tax has corrupted church leadership?

And, by the way, I’m not just some busybody American who thinks she knows better. My husband is German, and we lived in Germany for two years, with two small children. The first year, I alternated between trying out a number of reasonably-nearby parishes (the low-light: an old lady yelling at me about my misbehaving kids, after mass at Maria Koenigin in Gruenwald), alternatingly with and without kids in tow, and attending, as a family, the welcoming, child-friendly haven of St. Killian’s English-speaking parish (the website listed at the link is invalid, so I do hope they’re still around). The second year, I found St. Georg in Taufkirchen, which at the time had a Familiengottesdienst nearly every Sunday, even if there wasn’t anything more to it than kid-friendly hymns and an explicit welcome to families. (As a bonus, they were built recently enough that they actually had bathrooms in the building — a must when you’re potty-training a child.) Now they’re a part of the Pfarrverband with the other local parish, the welcoming priest is gone, and everything’s scaled back considerably. And you know what? When I had my youngest son baptized there, they had to secure official permission from the parish I was geographically supposed to be at, for reasons that were never entirely clear to me but I assumed had to do with the local parish having a “claim” to me and whatever coins I should see fit to throw their way, or to a more generous donation what we were supposed to have made by virtue of some unwritten rule.

Now, I know you’ve got cathedrals to maintain, and it’s a big risk to forgo what seems like a guaranteed income stream, but is the slow decline in revenues, with no end in sight, really the right choice? If you truly want to minister to your parishoners, please, abandon the Church Tax.

Best Regards,

Jane the Actuary

* My apologies for writing in English rather than German, but just let me know and I’d be happy to translate.

Uncategorized

Previous Post

October 13, 2015

The transgender locker room debate comes close to home

Next Post

October 14, 2015 Some quick debate observations

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Actuarial/Retirement Issues Politics Uncategorized

Select a Month September 2026 August 2026 July 2026 June 2026 April 2026 March 2026 February 2026 January 2026 December 2025 November 2025 October 2025 July 2025 June 2025 May 2025 April 2025 March 2025 February 2025 January 2025 December 2024 November 2024 October 2024 September 2024 August 2024 July 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 July 2023 December 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 August 2021 June 2021 April 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

How many days did God take to create the world?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Six Ten Two Seven