Independent.ie: Shrinking congregations grow angry at subsidising ‘shameless neighbours’ who ‘expect all the services’

39 comments

  1. > He described the financial crisis as the elephant in the church’s living room.

    He literally represents one of the wealthiest organisations in recorded human history…..

    I struggle to remember a better example of someone “playing the poor mouth” than this insulting nonsense.

  4. Set a fee for the “milestone sacraments”, snare in the people who don’t darken the door of a church outside of their christening, communion and confirmation.

  6. Going to charge more for weddings and funerals if you’re not a regular contributor.

    How does the protestant church survive with tiny numbers in comparison. Also the Pastor’s have families to support?

    Reackon they need to cut their cloth to suit their means. Close churches,sell off parochial houses and properties.

  10. Nice to see the Irish people voting with their wallets for a change! With a bit of luck they’ll be gone within a generation or two and we can use their infrastructure for social purposes, community centres and the likes!

  11. The solution is obvious, bring back tithing. Only households who allow a portion of their income to the church can receive sacraments. I heard of an irish woman living in Germany who was going to get married but when she went to her local catholic church they told flat there’d be no wedding service unless she ticked the RCC box on taxes. The upshot was she went to Italy where she could just show up and pay a fee.

    I’d love to see who many Irish people would tick the RCC box on the census if it meant they a portion of their income.

  13. I have the solution – listen up bishop – Drive Thru services – like the express Lane on the motorway tolls – beep youre now baptised/confirmed/married/dead – other lanes for atheists/lapsed agnostics/others

  14. I like the system here in Germany where there is a church tax. It works out at around 8% of your income tax. If you remove yourself from the church, you don’t pay the tax and you are can no longer partake in any of their customs. So no communions, christenings, weddings, funerals, etc

    Not sure how well it would work in Ireland given the close ties with the education system, that would need to be separated first.

  19. They can fuck right off if they want any sympathy. In every town bigger than a handful of people in Ireland the church still owns property usually smack bang in the middle. If we added up just the property value that the church owns here it would be enough to solve any crisis the country has. They can start selling off the properties they don’t use which is probably about 80% of them.

  20. If only there were some sort of all-powerful divinity that the church could turn to for assistance during these difficult times…

  21. An organisation that carries out its activities in massive buildings filled with art/ornaments on well located land that pays no tax giving out about not having enough money. They need to consolidate.

    Also, they just need to charge appropriately for people who want to use the church for sacraments – however I think that wouldn’t have the impact they think it would in the long run.

  22. Do you remember those priests that went viral for singing during mass or whatever?

    Well, after one of them became known for it, his “rates” for went waaaay up because now he was a *celebrity* priest. He wasn’t messing about it either, there was an instance where somebody’s wedding ceremony was delayed while the best man, in full kit, had to run to an ATM for cash.

    I’ve spoken to a few of his congregants who see nothing wrong with that, but it feels bizarre to me, real Ted Crilly stuff.

  23. You know if they stopped infant baptism and child confirmation and stopped enrolling people automatically in their charade they wouldn’t have to complain about this. So why don’t they?
    The usual suspects will bleat about parental choice but it’s about control; numbers for education and health so they keep their daft foot in the door of society.

  24. All boils down to money with them the greed I saw when getting married and christening children was appalling the old codgers in Their 50-60 probably qualified at the tail end of the good times and were expecting normal reverence and financial good times are probably bitter.

    My own mother is in her 70s and went from an avid church goer to abandoning the church but not her faith in the last 10 years.

    Bigger parishes is the answer amalgamation there soon won’t be enough priests to reign in each.

    Your financial model is flawed perhaps Martin Luther had a point.

  26. Cheeky fucking bastards. Every one one of them from left to right, from top to bottom. Fuck them. I hope they’re all miserable every second of their lives

  28. Hold on a second weren’t they recently on the news looking to repurpose few of the churches for rental accommodation so they can milk more money out of Ireland and probably still tax free ?

  29. A side note, the church purchased land, built properties, and maintained them using the donations from the people of Ireland. People donated to the church so the amenities can be used by the people of Ireland. Should the church be able to sell those properties, or should they be considered stewards of the properties, bought for, maintained by, paid for by the people of Ireland?

  35. > Fr Brendan Hoban, a co-founder of the Association of Catholic Priests, the country’s largest group representing clerics

    Wouldn’t that be the Catholic Church?

  36. The only downside I see to this is that the ruins of modern churches won’t look anywhere near as pretty as the ruins of medieval churches.

  38. We could help them out with operating costs by doing what we should have done years ago and have the Criminal Assets Bureau seize their property.

    Ho hum

  39. Take what belongs to you and go; I choose to give to this last the same as I give to you. Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or are you envious because I am generous?’ So the last will be first, and the first will be last.”

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