Priests' Pay

D1stant

Interested to know what the salary, leave and pension terms are for Roman Catholic positions

(No Im not looking for a new career)

Also interested to know how the black market of funerals, weddings, christenings gets reported to the Revenue. For a busy parish a priest may be pocketing quite a lot of cash for these



If in wrong forum please move

biko

If this thread gets into bashing priests it'll be locked and someone banished.

El Weirdo

biko wrote: »

If this thread gets into bashing priests it'll be locked and someone banished.

Can we bash the bishop?

biko

You may


On topic, 5 year old article

Priests in Mayo are amongst the lowest earners in the country, the Bishop of Killala has revealed.
Bishop John Fleming has published the basic salaries of the clergy in his diocese in a pastoral letter in which he admits they are considered low compared to other dioceses.
At present the annual gross salary of the Bishop is €24,000, while a parish priest earns a basic salary €13,200 a year. A curate earns a basic salary of €12,600.
The inclusion of Mass offerings received from weddings, funerals and baptisms increases the gross figure of a parish priest to €16,200 and for a curate to €15,600 a year.
The salary of the Bishop and the priests are funded by the parishes of the diocese and from the salaries priests are expected to provide for their own cars, feed, clothes and maintain themselves and provide for their ordinary needs.
The income is decided by a financial group which is made up of a number of elected priests, who review salaries every three years. When the group is reviewing the salary, they look at the cost of livings and come up with new proposals. The proposals are put to the priests of the diocese to discuss and decide what salary a priest should receive.
Fr Paddy Hoban, Parish Priest of Killala believes the current salary is adequate to live on.
“At the moment I find it adequate to live on. Sometimes I hear figures quoted in other dioceses and they would to be paid more, but it is the clergy of Killala who decide, not something that is imposed,” said Fr Hoban.

Standard Toaster

D1stant wrote: »

Also interested to know how the black market of funerals, weddings, christenings....

lol

Priests take a vow of poverty and are supported by their religious order.
Any personal earnings are meant to be given to the order.
Donations received for weddings, funerals and baptisms are all treated as part of the priest's overall salary and yes, they do (are meant to) pay tax on it.

Logical Fallacy

I believe that recognised religions are tax exempt OP.

positron

PS: why can't I post pictures?

Manach

So in other words, a watch to a retiring company directory of a bankrupt bank is worth nearly the same of that a Priest's salary.

super_furry

I’ve often thought being a priest would be a handy number. Free house, free car, all the wine you can drink and you get invited to all the big weddings and shindigs in the village.

Suppose you have to balance that with the whole ‘no riding’ thing, so it’s a case of swings and roundabouts.

amacca

Manach wrote: »

So in other words, a watch to a retiring company directory of a bankrupt bank is worth nearly the same of that a Priest's salary.

those are indeed words which nearly equate the value of Fingleton's timepiece with the value of a priests salary

Forest Master

positron wrote: »

PS: why can't I post pictures?

Images don't embed if they're not funny.

Forest Master

super_furry wrote: »

Suppose you have to balance that with the whole ‘no riding’ thing, so it’s a case of swings and roundabouts.

Well, to an extent.

amacca

super_furry wrote: »

Suppose you have to balance that with the whole ‘no riding’ thing, so it’s a case of swings and roundabouts.

I don't reckon it will be all that long until you can get in a spot of riding (as part of a healthy marriage) with the hierarchies blessing so to speak

leeroybrown

amacca wrote: »

I don't reckon it will be all that long until you can get in a spot of riding (as part of a healthy marriage) with the hierarchies blessing so to speak

I'm not so sure. The theological barriers are certainly surmountable but the cost implications of married priests with dependents to the very financially minded Catholic Church will have them avoiding it steadfastly for years.

ballsymchugh

priests don't take a vow of poverty, although some religious orders do.
the Christmas day collections are usually straight to them, and not for the upkeep of the buildings etc like the normal weekly one is.

admiralofthefleet

we havent had anything since them 2 bags of coal in 1957

amacca

leeroybrown wrote: »

I'm not so sure. The theological barriers are certainly surmountable but the cost implications of married priests with dependents to the very financially minded Catholic Church will have them avoiding it steadfastly for years.

as I understand there are already ordained catholic priests that can be married

seems unfair that married ex-anglicans can be ordained as catholic priests and remain married.............or have I got the wrong end of the stick with that one?

how long before "catholic-catholic" priests expect the same treatment..if it is the case?

mackg

amacca wrote: »

as I understand there are already ordained catholic priests that can be married

seems unfair that married ex-anglicans can be ordained as catholic priests and remain married.............or have I got the wrong end of the stick with that one?

how long before "catholic-catholic" priests expect the same treatment..if it is the case?

How often does this happen?

philologos

Logical Fallacy wrote: »

I believe that recognised religions are tax exempt OP.

Churches / mosques / synagogues / et al are tax-exempt. Clergy are not as far as I'm aware they pay PRSI and PAYE like the rest of us.

The_B_Man

super_furry wrote: »

I’ve often thought being a priest would be a handy number. Free house, free car, all the wine you can drink and you get invited to all the big weddings and shindigs in the village.

Suppose you have to balance that with the whole ‘no riding’ thing, so it’s a case of swings and roundabouts.

Sure just become a priest and get yourself a woman. Its a rule I'd be more than happy to break, if I was a priest! Its not like the pope would be visiting Tallaght any time soon to catch me in the act!

ryoishin

A diosican (sp?) priest is supposed to received the average middle class salary. Ordered priests take the poverty vow.

The married anglican vicar who converts to Catholicism happens quite alot. I even think theres one here in Ireland.

Freddie59

1. Can SOMEONE shed light on what precisely 'middle class':rolleyes: is in Ireland. Are some people still looking down their noses at others?

2. I would imagine that a priests life is a very, very lonely one.

3. Think of the amount of hours that priests work - at unsociable times. The knockers here would probably submit that as overtime in their own place of work. At probably time and a half - maybe double time - rates.

4. Not allowing priests to marry is - and always has been - BS of the worst kind. it would give them an insight into how families operate.

5. Same goes for no women priests. More stupidity. Why not!

newballsplease

most of their money is just resting in the account!

HarryPotter41

Freddie59 wrote: »

5. Same goes for no women priests. More stupidity. Why not!

Cos if its anything like where I work you'd never get a priest, be on flaming maternity leave all the time.

Cee-Jay-Cee

Freddie59 wrote: »

5. Same goes for no women priests. More stupidity. Why not!

How would they possibly have time to be priests with all the cooking, ironing and cleaning they have to do around the house....I know women are great at multi-tasking but theyre not that great!

FatherLen

i haven't gotten a cent!

amacca

mackg wrote: »

How often does this happen?

tbh..I have no idea of the numbers...cant imagine it would be that large.

if it does happen it sets a precedent tho.....first crack in the wall (no pun intended)

Tehachapi

They don't seem to obey the law in respect of having sex with children, then creating monumental cover-up operations, so I wouldn't expect them to obey the law in other regards.

D1stant

biko wrote: »

You may


On topic, 5 year old article

I'm surprised that salary is decided per diocese

I'm also surprised at how low the wages are - I always found priests to be very comfortable - but then again if all your bills are taken care of the salary is really just pocket money, and as its low contributes no tax.. ..:cool:

Is leave, pension and 'nixer' policy also decided locally within the diocese?

Tow

Catholic = Class A PRSI

Church of Ireland = Class E PRSI

I will now leave you to argue over why there is a difference and see if someone comes up with the correct answer.;)

philologos

Tow wrote: »

Catholic = Class A PRSI

Church of Ireland = Class E PRSI

I will now leave you to argue over why there is a difference and see if someone comes up with the correct answer.;)

[citation needed???]

Thinkingaboutit

Citizens Information and other places give that anomaly that Anglican clergymen have their own PRSI class. Somewhat less of a deduction (for for ee and er), but poorer SW benefits presumably. A few priests come from well off families, so can sometimes have a flash car, but otherwise it's an austere, lonely (and a bit stressful now as the few younger priests have to do the work of several now) existence.

Standard Toaster

Tow wrote: »

Catholic = Class A PRSI

Church of Ireland = Class E PRSI

I will now leave you to argue over why there is a difference and see if someone comes up with the correct answer.;)

Catholics pay their PRSI in Cocaine and CoI pay theirs in Opium?

Oh, no, not Cocaine.
God, what am I on about. No, what d'you call them. Raisins.

philologos

I presume this is because of the pension system setup within the Church of Ireland? I couldn't explain it in full. I know there are differences between whether or not churches regard ministers as employees.

Do those classes mean that some people get better social welfare than others?

Capt'n Midnight

super_furry wrote: »

I’ve often thought being a priest would be a handy number.

apparantly you have to work on sundays

randylonghorn

Standard Toaster wrote: »

lol

Priests take a vow of poverty and are supported by their religious order.
Any personal earnings are meant to be given to the order.

This doesn't apply to diocesan / secular priests, just religious orders like the Franciscans, Augustinians, etc.

amacca wrote: »

as I understand there are already ordained catholic priests that can be married

seems unfair that married ex-anglicans can be ordained as catholic priests and remain married.............or have I got the wrong end of the stick with that one?

No, you're correct, though I think they would normally have been ordained Anglican ministers before converting.

D1stant wrote: »

I'm surprised that salary is decided per diocese

I'm also surprised at how low the wages are - I always found priests to be very comfortable - but then again if all your bills are taken care of the salary is really just pocket money, and as its low contributes no tax.. ..:cool:

All their bills aren't taken care of, read the article quoted above, though obviously they don't have mortgages / rental costs for the house.

If priests have no other source of income, they can be short enough of cash tbh ... they won't starve or anything, but they won't be rich. It would have been common enough in the past though for the families to support "their" priest; especially with the likes of old maiden aunts and cousins, the priest will often be fondly remembered in their wills!