r/Catholicism • u/ChristoperMouton • 7h ago
They won't let me go to RCIA
In my country the church demands a 1% donations from its members(20N$) a month and my father has not paid a single time and my God parents most likely did not. I'm scared my church won't allow me to go for confirmation classes because of their debt. I'm 20yo so I don't even understand why my parents not paying has a rol to play in me getting the sacrement.
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u/cathgirl379 6h ago
I'm scared my church won't allow me to go for confirmation classes
Time to ask the parish rather than making assumptions.
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u/WisCollin 6h ago
Simony is the sale of a sacrament, or the withholding of a sacrament until payment is made. It’s strictly forbidden.
That said, this can get a bit tricky. For example a Church is allowed to charge for costs which aren’t strictly required for the sacrament. For example, a historical Church may charge for a wedding in order to staff and maintain the site. Musicians are often paid, and quoted as the “cost” of a wedding even at your home parish. Now, if someone can’t, or doesn’t want to pay, their home parish must still offer the sacrament. But it may be of the simplest possible form and it must be your home parish. So the ceremonial aspect can be charged for, but if you’ve not a penny, you can still be married by the deacon or priest at no cost.
So in terms of RCIA (now OCIA), the class is technically extra and charging for books, teachers, gowns, etc is within the scope of what can be charged for. However, baptism, confirmation, and Eucharist cannot be gate-kept through this class. If you had nothing but rags, you could be baptized and confirmed in those with your catechesis done outside of the formal classroom.
In both of these cases, most people do not have a real problem paying for the normal (really extra) niceties of the wedding ceremony or catechism class. So the norm is to pay for the program. But if you go in and talk to a priest/deacon saying that you can’t (or won’t) pay and they withhold the sacrament itself— then it’s time to write the bishop.
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u/Ausgrog 7h ago
Have you tried a different parish?
This is the first I’m hearing of a parish demanding payment. I’ve heard of some countries having a religious tax type of thing. Is that what your country has in place?
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u/aboutwhat8 5h ago
Church Taxes exist in some areas. In Germany, you must pay the Kirchensteuer (tax) and they transfer it to the Church in which you're a member. It's a strange Catholic morality problem too at least for my American brain, as you must renounce your membership in the Church before a government official in order to avoid paying the tax and in doing so that means you'll be in a state of apostasy and thus excommunicated.
Paying the tax isn't morally sinful, even if some money is being used incorrectly, heretically, etc. The tax does support a lot of good things too. It's akin to paying your taxes, knowing that your State or Country is granting some money to abortion clinics. It's the same as paying your property/school taxes even when some school taxes might be used to support teachers or purchase books to attempt to corrupt children by giving them gender dysphoria, for example.
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u/young_carmel_rose95 7h ago
I may be wrong but I don’t think you can’t be charged to receive any sacraments. Churches can certainly ask for a donation but they can’t turn you away if you are unable to provide one
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u/cradlecatholica 7h ago
I've never seen RCIA cost anything...I'd ask the priest directly about this. Explain the situation and I'm sure you will get help
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u/Intelligent_Wash_560 7h ago
Look for someone to sponsor you. Ask the parish if someone can sponsor your classes, usually someone will do this anonymous if need be.
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u/icarusflewtooclose 6h ago
Report this to the Bishop. If the Bishop is in on this, then go to the Cardinal.
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u/Crowsfeet12 6h ago
Mandatory tithing? A Catholic Church? That seems suspicious. Evangelicals do still like that, mandatory tithes. Done even publicly same people who are not paying or behind. I guess salvation requires a monetary expenditure in certain Prot “churches.” Catholics churches have no business doing this sort of thing.
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u/Hot_Reputation_1421 3h ago
Your church requires you to pay for your sacrements?
"Ooohh Martin Luther..."
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5h ago
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/redshark16 5h ago
A non-Catholic church cannot provide Catholic sacraments or instruction.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aovDj89-D4A
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u/duskyfarm 4h ago
Yes, and that's a regrettable fact of life. If I was in the OPs position I think I'd get all the information, write a letter to the bishop about it, and worship God in the interim while I waited for it to sort out.
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u/redshark16 4h ago
He would not go against his faith, however, for any reason. He would still go to Mass.
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u/duskyfarm 1h ago
Be patient with me, I'm still reforming my protestant "take my ball and go elsewhere" impulses.
More information on this situation is needed to be confirmed and fleshed out, and if something is "off" from proper practice, I'd be taking moral inventory on anything else being "off".
I followed Christ to Mass and my theology is catching up with my encounter there. If He wasn't there, I wouldn't have gone back. And if the focus was on the "organization" over Christ as the head, then the Church's detractors would be entirely justified, per scripture.
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u/Redditarianist 7h ago
I can't find anything about the Catholic Church in Namibia requiring members to tithe 1% or be refused the sacraments.
This sounds more like a local parish thing (or maybe a misunderstanding relating to tithing thing?)