Typical amount for Christmas/Easter Dues?

cantalach

My wife is a practising Catholic but not a practising boardsie so I'm essentially posting this on her behalf. She recently paid €50 for the Christmas Dues, thinking that this amount was probably about right. However, on mentioning this in passing to her sister she was shocked (and a bit embarrassed) to hear that the said sister and her husband pay €200 at Christmas and again at Easter. Their annual household income would be similar to ours. This seems excessive to me but we really have no idea. Anyone?

homer911

I'm sure the proper answer to this is "Give as much as you can afford"

Being a member of a protestant church (and former Hon. Treasurer) I can tell you there that donations are usually weekly or monthly and would typically be between 10-25 EUR per week per family (some more than this, some less). Pls special collections for charities, disasters, harvest etc.

cantalach

homer911 wrote: »

Being a member of a protestant church (and former Hon. Treasurer) I can tell you there that donations are usually weekly or monthly and would typically be between 10-25 EUR per week per family (some more than this, some less). Pls special collections for charities, disasters, harvest etc.

OK, but there's a weekly collection in Catholic churches too which is announced as the collection "for the parish and diocese". The Christmas and Easter dues on the other hand go directly to the priests.

I'll probably come across as a bitter lapsed Catholic for saying this...but it saddens me ever so slightly that the only person bothered to respond to a Catholicism-related question (on what is a pretty active forum) is a Protestant.

philologos

Who cares? Pay whatever your heart allows you to pay. Do not be influenced by others wishing to show their piety by how much they donate. Donate what you want, don't be pressured.

Do your church offer those envelopes that you can put whatever donation into? As this would keep it private. Donations do not make you a better person for giving more.

As for a Protestant replying to a Catholic, we are both Christians and we both seek to strive to God's law?

Matthew 6:1-4 wrote:

‘Beware of practising your piety before others in order to be seen by them; for then you have no reward from your Father in heaven.
‘So whenever you give alms, do not sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, so that they may be praised by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward. But when you give alms, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your alms may be done in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

Remember that what happens of your conscience is far superior to what happens out of pressure. This is a personal relationship between you and God, not a race.

cantalach

Jakkass wrote: »

Who cares? Pay whatever your heart allows you to pay. Do not be influenced by others wishing to show their piety by how much they donate. Donate what you want, don't be pressured.

Do your church offer those envelopes that you can put whatever donation into? As this would keep it private. Donations do not make you a better person for giving more.

Huh? I think you might be misinterpreting my motives for asking the question. I'm asking a simple mathematical question really: how much should a typical 2+2 household in a typical middle-class suburban parish be paying in order to keep the priests of the parish in a reasonable standard of living. To put it another way, I'm asking for X where X = total of priests salaries / number of contributing households in parish.

Think of it no differently to a post to a travel forum asking "how much should I tip a waiter in New York City?" When I spoke about my wife being embarrassed I meant that she was embarrassed in the same way that she would be if she had, out of ignorance, under-tipped a waiter. I wasn't suggesting that she felt her salvation was in peril!

Jakkass wrote: »

As for a Protestant replying to a Catholic, we are both Christians and we both seek to strive to God's law?

Sorry dude, you've lost me there. But just in case there's any doubt, I was not in any way making a sectarian statement. I was just commenting that I thought it a bit sad that a Protestant reader was the only one motivated to answer a question relating to the operation of a Catholic parish.

philologos

As for should, leave that up to you and your wife. It isn't a race and it shouldn't be one. Do what you think is acceptable

homer911

cantalach wrote: »

OK, but there's a weekly collection in Catholic churches too which is announced as the collection "for the parish and diocese". The Christmas and Easter dues on the other hand go directly to the priests.

quote]

Thanks for the education - I wasnt aware how this worked in the Catholic Church. In my church, ministers' salaries are paid from "Head Office". Ministers receive a basic salary and a stipend, which is usually based on a % of total collections. They can also receive an expense allowance from the local church for example for travel expenses, heating the "home" when used for church meetings, phone calls etc. There would never be a specific collection for the minister. The local church contributes to the HO, pays into a pension for the minister and pays local and diocese expenses

sorella

A hard one indeed.

Withholding contributions is a time-honoured way of expressing outrage.

Many would rather give elsewhere also.

RC Churches here tend to be built from parishioners gifts; in one town nearby, at present they fill two envelopes each week. one the usual one and one for the renovations needed to the Church.

It gives some ire as the PP lives in a"palace" and there is also a fine house alongside the Church; if they sold one it would pay for the work.

we are a mile from the Chapel here; the parochial house has been empty six years and is lterally rotting away; that too was built by parishoners money. Could have been sold also

Paul says give what you can also.

ravima

I remember in my young days being told that a half a days pay was the measure of it.

cantalach

ravima wrote: »

I remember in my young days being told that a half a days pay was the measure of it.

Thanks for that. Looks like I'm off the hook then - like so many others in this country, I've no income at the moment!