Follow the money
Religious institutions have been defined, from a financial point of view, as “unregulated on-shore tax havens subsidised by taxpayers to pursue the supernatural.”* However, it doesn't always stop with national churches. The Vatican State is a tax haven that's off-shore from its contributors. And it has a further tax haven in the Caymen Islands which is offshore even from itself.
Land and money for the Church while a quarter of Polish children go hungry
The Polish government can afford to subsidise Church influence in every corner of society, from chaplains throughout the civil service to holiday pay for monks and nuns, but is unable to provide free school lunches for Polish children, a quarter of whom are malnourished. This is an itemised list of state subventions to the Church for 2008.
In the 1979 Finance Concordat the Spanish Catholic Church promised to become self-supporting within three years of the introduction of a “church tax”, which was finally imposed in 1987. Yet despite more than 10 years' warning, the Church didn't meet the deadline. Even after the Government increased the “church tax” in 2007 from 0.52% to 0.70%, still no luck. This report from Spanish organisation Europa Laica (Secular Europe) itemises the subsidies.
German taxpayers subsidise 98% of faith-based social services
Few know that social service employees of German religious organisations number almost 2½ million or that the German churches pay for less than 2% of their “good works”, with the taxpayer left to foot the rest of the bill. This is revealed in an important essay, available in English for the first time, by Dr. Carsten Frerk, an authority on church finances.
The Hidden Wealth of the [German] Catholic Church
Only the budget of the diocese, (funded by the “church tax” on its members), is public. The rest, accumulated over centuries and invested widely, forms a shadow budget, known only to the bishop and his closest associates, and not reviewed by the tax authorities. Despite cash assets estimated at about €50 billion, the Church is cutting back its own small contribution to its “good works”, threatening many with closure. (Spiegel, 14 June 2010)
Millions for the bishops: Why the German state pays the wages for the church
How did Germany become the cash cow of the Vatican? An English transcript of the Spiegel video from 7 June 2010 tells this unknown story and asks whether the recession going to make the Germans begin to question this.
Church, state and money : Groundbreaking series from La Repubblica
The Vatican Secretary of State has objected to the publication of these revealing articles, but has not disputed their accuracy. Here is the complete series of ten articles, translated by Graeme Hunter for Concordat Watch.
“How many thousands of Masses for the Dead or other special occasions are said at about $100 apiece over the course of a priest’s lifetime? How can the average archdiocese afford to pay for a priest’s education, only to be forced to let him go if accusations of pedophilia are brought against him?” — Jeannie Cole
* Prof. Max Wallace quoted by (Bishop) Tom Frame, Losing My Religion, UNSW Press, 2009, p.5.
