Germany: Church asks for voluntary contributions

In the middle of a financial crisis, the Catholic Church in Germany is asking for voluntary contributions from retired people. Cardinal Karl Lehmann declared in an interview with the economics journal of Cologne, Capital, that retired people, who are no longer obliged to pay the Church tax, should make their contributions in his diocese of Mainz on a voluntary basis.

 The president of the German Bishops Conference said that if retired people and the unemployed did not pay Church tax, other groups in the population are equally exempt. In fact, only one person in three makes a financial contribution to his Church. And a large number of those who do not pay any Church tax, call on the services provided by the Church, at school and kindergarten level or through Caritas.

 According to Cardinal Lehmann, “there are possibilities to which we must have recourse, and we cannot let an opportunity pass of obtaining additional revenue.” In his view, the Church is just as much subject to economic crises as businesses are. “To see things otherwise would be pure sentimentality.” Following the example of the diocese of Mainz, Aix-la-Chapelle has also solicited retired people, by mail, asking them for a voluntary contribution.