where do priest and the church get all their money?

Question

this has bothered me for a while and everyone i ask (who are catholics) dont know

ok churches that take a certain portion of a persons income i can understand.

but where does the pope get his vast wealth from,ok maybe the church already has money,but how do all the smaller churches here have enough money to pay bills,and other things like that,all the priests here are zipping around in cars when everythigns in walking distance. someone also said to me the government (in ireland) pays them,but why should the government pay for the whole upkeep of the church,i doubt that very much.

it would take an awful lot of money to keep all the catholic churches and priest in the world looked after and for a church that does not take money from its followers WHERE DOES ALL THE MONEY COME FROM?

Answer 1

the Catholic church alone is worth billions of pounds.
the church raised the bulk of its income when it was the only christian faith in the western world, every country paids money to the pope to make sure that the church was financed enough, other money was raised by the lands that the papacy owned in its own right, they used to be landlords of most of Northern, central Italy, they also had there hands in many other small sites throughout Europe. it was a crime to not pay your papacy taxes and most Kingdoms at the time lived in fear of ExComminication by the pope. have you been to the vatican? have you seen St Peters Bassilica? it s made completely out of solid silver and gold.. the money they raised would now be woth a small fortune and has been invested wisely by the papacy. they also used to have their own courts to lash out judgements and fines to the unholy. but most of the other churches in England raisedtheir vast wealth via donation, not donation as in a pound in the pot on Sunday, but being that incontrol of the living, through retribution in purgatory upon death, therefore the wealthy ofthe day would leave vast amounts of monies to build Chantries for monks to pray for their sin, in the hope that this would plse God and let them into heaven sooner rather than later. the chantries would then have to pay the Papacy their cut. the modern Cof E is subsidised by the Government and charity. remember the church is built on lies, blood, murder, and most of all the false DONATION OF CONSTANTINE, the palace in which the Pope dwells was userped from the Emperors successors through this false document, thus the very Vatican itself exist via lies!

Answer 2

The Catholic Church is a federation of local churches. Each parish receives donations. How that is managed is determined by the local bishop and more broadly by general canon law. Most parishes keep their donations but send a portion for the support of the diocese or eparchy they are in. Likewise, wealthy churches pay an annual funding amount to the Vatican. The Vatican's finances were in shambles until about ten years ago. While the Vatican had significant funds, it refused to reduce its support of the poor, while inflation continually ate into them. The major Churches developed a plan to maintain the solvency of the Petrine ministry. Rome supports a wider range of activities than people realize. For example, when the first Israeli war occured, the Pope realized that there would be thousands of Palestinian and possibly Israeli refugees. This was before the UN was in the refugee business. It is the Vatican that fed the Palestinians and does to this day largely. It also builds irrigation systems, water systems, schools and so forth in the Middle East. Likewise, it maintains the funding for a number of other places where people would starve without it. Just a note, in the United States a non-married priest's salary is fixed at a maximum of $12,000 per year. I don't know what they pay priests who are married. Since most priests are celebate in the United States, it probably isn't a big deal. I think my own eparchy only has a few.

Answer 3

The Catholic church has income and it has wealth. The income is daily through collections in churches and other ministries. Some of the money goes directly to the cost of running that ministry, or Church, and a portion of it is sent to through the hierarchy of the church. Some Churches need money to stay open and that is usually provided within the local group of Catholic churches, known as the diocese. It is all part of a business plan, just like a giant corporation. A budget is made and it includes the income, the expenses, etc. Also, the church is the oldest Christian religion and has much wealth (The Vatican) that has accumulated over the history of the organization.

It works the same way as the large churches that you see on TV with the primary exception of salaries. Many priests and other ministers (nuns, monks, etc) do not receive high wages...a vow of poverty is taken by many and they are merely provided enough to pay for their basic needs (groceries, toiletries, transportation)... Speaking of transportation...many priests are very, very busy and run from one appointment to another which is why it seems they are driving a lot when they could be walking...when you are taking care of the needs of hundreds of people, you stay pretty busy!

That is where the Catholic church gets it's money (in a nutshell). I hope that helps:)

Answer 4

Well, first of all, the Pope has no wealth, the church itself does. And you under-estimate the donations that Catholics give to the church. Many, many Catholics give far more then 10% of their income. Catholic churches have festivals and other events of which the profits go to the church. And all of the labor as to these events is donated, so there is little expense.

Many Catholics leave money to the church in their wills. Etc.
Priests and Nun's do not get an income, only their living expenses are paid. And that is very regulated by the church.

Answer 5

The catholic church has had vast holdings in land, art, and has been a political entity since its beginnings. They are one of the richest monarchies in the world. Look at the lawsuit that was just judged in California, the church is paying something like 4 million because its priests can't keep their hands to themselves. The church has no problem paying it at all.

Answer 6

imagine all the catholics who contribute at least 3 bucks, times 5 masses.. some do offer hundreds and thousands., aside from that., the church collects contributions/payments from weddings, christenings, baptism and the like.. that's a lot of money..,

i work in a bank, and there were priests who deposits their collections with their OWN nmae and not the parish church..

dont u think that's a good job? ull get rich! lol..

they use the money for construction of churches, celebration, electric and water bills and other expences like candles, workers/utility pay, priests allowance and the like... but it's more than enough to cover the expenses...

Answer 7

They've been around for many years and the monetary donations have been great.

Here in California there are a lot of old mission homes. I took a tour of the Cathedral in San Jose and most of the money used to make it came from local families, volunteer work from artists, and melted donated gold (when there was real gold).

Answer 8

It takes $$$ to keep the building warm and cool. They priest/pastor has to be paid. So do the janitors and groundskeepers.

Some of the money is used to help poor people.

Good grief! You seem petty to expect pastors to walk everywhere. How do you know they "zip around to places that are within walking distance"? Are you Kreskin and know where they go? Do you have that little to do to notice where they go every day and what they do? What do they eat for lunch? Do they spend too much money on lunch to suit you? Do you know what brand of tissue they use as well? Maybe you could help them find a less expensive brand.
Geez, girl, get over it!

Why be so judgemental?

Answer 9

you must also include the vast amounts of gold and silver that was plundered from the new world in the name of the church. people give vast amounts of money to the church mostly to try to buy their way into heaven or to absolve themselves of sin or because they feel guilty at having money. people give the church big money that's all tax free!!!!!

Answer 10

are you talking about just the RCC or all churches?

Malachi 3:8 Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed me. But ye say, Wherein have we robbed thee? In tithes and offerings.