No Tax Payment, No Blessing!

[Anomaly]

The question was raised about Catholic Bishops in Germany not allowing Sacraments (Baptism, Wedding, etc.) being given to those who don't pay Religion Tax on thier income to their Government. It seems the money does get forwarded to the various Religions, protestant, catholic, jewish...
But payment is mandatory if you identify yourself as a member. Catholic Bishops are denying Sacraments to those who attempt to opt out of mandatory payement.
Link to article: [url="http://www.rr.com/news/topic/article/rr/55255142/75629307/No_tax_no_blessing_German_church_insists_on_levy"]http://www.rr.com/news/topic/article/rr/55255142/75629307/No_tax_no_blessing_German_church_insists_on_levy[/url]

Some excerpts for those who aren't concerned about complete context:
BERLIN (AP) — The road to heaven is paved with more than good intentions for Germany's 24 million Catholics. If they don't pay their religious taxes, they will be denied sacraments, including weddings, baptisms and funerals.
A decree issued last week by the country's bishops cast a spotlight on the longstanding practice in Germany and a handful of other European countries in which governments tax registered believers and then hand over the money to the religious institutions.
In Germany, the surcharge for Catholics, Protestants and Jews is a surcharge of up to nine percent on their income tax bills — or about ¬56 ($72) a month for a single person earning a pre-tax monthly salary of about ¬3,500 ($4,500).
...
The Catholic Church in Germany receives about ¬5 billion ($6.5 billion) annually from the surcharge. For Protestants, the total is just above ¬4 billion ($5.2 billion).

...
Those are the people that Germany's Catholic bishops had in mind when they decreed on Sept. 20 that stopping the payment of religious taxes was "a serious lapse" and those who did so would then be excluded from a range of church activities.
"This decree makes clear that one cannot partly leave the Church," the bishops said in a statement. "It is not possible to separate the spiritual community of the Church from the institutional Church."
Wavering Catholics will now be sent letters reminding them of the consequences of avoiding the church tax, including losing access to all sacraments.
"Maybe you haven't considered the consequences of your decision and would like to reverse this step," a draft of the letter states.

[KnightofChrist]

I can't recall any other time when the 'institutional Church' supported a church tax. How would the German bishops react if it was they who had to pay a church tax?

[ACS67]

I find this appalling. Why would the Catholic Church agree to this?

[Anomaly]

[size=4]WARSAW, Poland (CNS) -- The German bishops' conference defended a controversial decree that said Catholics who stop paying a church membership tax cannot receive sacraments.

[b]"There must be consequences for people who distance themselves from the church by a public act," [/b]said Archbishop Robert Zollitsch of Freiburg, conference president, in defending the Sept. 20 decree.

"Clearly, someone withdrawing from the church can no longer take advantage of the system like someone who remains a member," he said at a Sept. 24 news conference as the bishops began a four-day meeting in Fulda. "We are grateful Rome has given completely clear approval to our stance."

The archbishop said each departure was "painful for the church," adding that bishops feared many Catholics were unaware of the consequences and would be "open to other solutions."

"The Catholic church is committed to seeking out every lost person," said Archbishop Zollitsch, whose remarks were reported by Germany's Die Welt daily.

[b]"At issue, however, is the credibility of the church's sacramental nature. One cannot be half a member or only partly a member. Either one belongs and commits, or one renounces this," Archbishop Zollitsch said.[/b]

....

Conscious dissociation from the church by public act is a grave offense against the church community," the decree said.

"Whoever declares their withdrawal for whatever reason before the responsible civil authority always violates their duty to preserve a link with the church, as well as their duty to make a financial contribution so the church can fulfill its tasks."

[b]The document added that departing Catholics [u]could no longer receive [/u]the sacraments[/b] of [color=#b22222][b]penance[/b][/color], [color=#a52a2a][b]holy Communion[/b][/color], [b][color=#a52a2a]confirmation[/color][/b] or [b][color=#a52a2a]anointing of the sick[/color][/b], [u][color=#ff8c00][b][i]other than when facing death[/i][/b][/color][/u], or exercise any church function, including belonging to parish councils or acting as godparents.

Marriages would granted only by a bishop's consent [color=#a52a2a][b]and unrepentant Catholics would be denied church funerals[/b][/color], the decree said.

A press release Sept. 20 said [u][color=#ff0000][b]the decree had been approved in August by the Vatican's Congregation for Bishops[/b][/color][/u]. It added that parish priests would be asked to write to departing Catholics, inviting them to meet and explain their decision and have the consequences explained.[/size]

Edited September 28, 2012 by Anomaly

[beatitude]

[quote name='Anomaly' timestamp='1348853324' post='2487627']
[size=4]A press release Sept. 20 said [u][color=#ff0000][b]the decree had been approved in August by the Vatican's Congregation for Bishops[/b][/color][/u]. It added that parish priests would be asked to write to departing Catholics, inviting them to meet and explain their decision and have the consequences explained.[/size]
[/quote]

I think this would be the moment to take a leaf out of St Catherine of Siena's book, and for parishioners to meet and explain (kindly) to the bishops the consequences of being mercenary.

[PhuturePriest]

Easy, children of the corn, easy. Those who don't pay the tax don't pay it because they left the Church officially and call themselves Protestant so they don't have to pay it (This is a government tax, not a Church tax). My question is why on earth [i]would[/i] the Bishops give the holy Eucharist to those who renounced their faith on paper so they didn't have to pay a tax?

[dUSt]

I think you are leaving out an important point. In order to opt out of the government imposed tax, the German citizen must make an "official declaration that one is leaving the faith".

That is the issue. Not the fact that they don't want to pay taxes.

[Anomaly]

[quote name='FuturePriest387' timestamp='1348859288' post='2487657']
Easy, children of the corn, easy. Those who don't pay the tax don't pay it because they left the Church officially and call themselves Protestant so they don't have to pay it (This is a government tax, not a Church tax). My question is why on earth [i]would[/i] the Bishops give the holy Eucharist to those who renounced their faith on paper so they didn't have to pay a tax?
[/quote]

Dude, at least read the entire posts and possibly skim the linked article.

Protestants would have to pay as well. Prot clergy aren't taking such a hard-line stance at this time.

[PhuturePriest]

[quote name='dUSt' timestamp='1348859480' post='2487659']
I think you are leaving out an important point. In order to opt out of the government imposed tax, the German citizen must make an "official declaration that one is leaving the faith".

That is the issue. Not the fact that they don't want to pay taxes.
[/quote]

Of course. Making an official declaration that one is leaving the Faith tells you where a persons' priorities lie, and it's not God-minded, but economically-minded. I don't agree with the tax (Granted, I don't know what the tax [i]is[/i]), but declaring your departure from the Faith over it is reason enough to get the Church behind the Bishops in telling them they can't receive the Eucharist.

[dUSt]

[quote name='FuturePriest387' timestamp='1348859288' post='2487657']
...and call themselves Protestant so they don't have to pay it ...
[/quote]
Actually, Protestants and Jews are taxed in Germany too. So, they just have to denounce their faith, not become Protestant.

[Anomaly]

[quote name='dUSt' timestamp='1348859480' post='2487659']
I think you are leaving out an important point. In order to opt out of the government imposed tax, the German citizen must make an "official declaration that one is leaving the faith".

That is the issue. Not the fact that they don't want to pay taxes.
[/quote]It seems it's not as much a tax that goes to the Government, it seems to be a matter of Mandatory Titheing, paid through the Government Taxing Authority. It's unclear to me how much (if any) the Government keeps as a cost for collecting.

[dUSt]

Imagine if the athiests in the United States started complaining about their taxes going towards faith-based charitable organizations, so a law is passed allowing athiests to pay a lower percentage of taxes than people of faith (this isn't so far-fetched people).

In order to qualify for the tax break, you must make an official declaration that you are an athiest.

Should the U.S. bishops then say, ok, that's cool. Come receive communion while you are publicly declaring yourself an athiest.

[dUSt]

[quote name='Anomaly' timestamp='1348859950' post='2487664']
It seems it's not as much a tax that goes to the Government, it seems to be a matter of Mandatory Titheing, paid through the Government Taxing Authority. It's unclear to me how much (if any) the Government keeps as a cost for collecting.
[/quote]

It would be mandatory tithing if it was imposed by the Church. It is not. It is an outdated German law, imposed by the German government. And yes, they get a big chunk of what they collect.

[Anomaly]

[quote name='dUSt' timestamp='1348860176' post='2487665']
Imagine if the athiests in the United States started complaining about their taxes going towards faith-based charitable organizations, so a law is passed allowing athiests to pay a lower percentage of taxes than people of faith (this isn't so far-fetched people).

In order to qualify for the tax break, you must make an official declaration that you are an athiest.

Should the U.S. bishops then say, ok, that's cool. Come receive communion while you are publicly declaring yourself an athiest.
[/quote]A false and misleading analogy.

The question is, should Religions be able to:
A- require MANDATORY financial contributions,
B- have collection administered through the Government,
C- at the pain of losing membership to the Religion?

[Anomaly]

[quote name='dUSt' timestamp='1348860334' post='2487667']

It would be mandatory tithing if it was imposed by the Church. It is not. It is an outdated German law, imposed by the German government. And yes, they get a big chunk of what they collect.
[/quote]It is effectively being imposed by the Church. The Church supports it and is not aiding or providing efforts to circumvent it or make noise to eliminate it.

Effectively, the German Catholic Bishops are saying you MUST PAY them money or you will be excluded from receiving the Sacraments. The Church Tax laws in Germany, Sweden, Norway, and other countries are allowing this. The Government does the work and collects a percentage of the revenues.