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Why do fund raising for religious bodies, will certainly be on the rise in Italy? I try to explain it briefly.
You all know that the bulk of resources for the "Churches" in Italy comes from 8 per thousand. The whole setting of the "System 8% °" is based on one word: integration.
What comes to the priests of 8% °, with the aim of ensuring the sustenance of the clergy, integrating what already is assured thanks to the priest from the parish or other income from services (teaching religion in schools public, teaching or performance in seminaries, colleges, pastoral services in the Curia, hospital services, nursing homes, etc..).
There was concern from the beginning to save a principle of value: the ideal would be that the Christian community will take charge of ensuring the livelihood of their priests, as well as other costs must be borne by the ministry (maintenance of the Church , costs for diocesan services, etc..). The eight per thousand has been and continues to be a good solution - envied by other nations - to solve the problem of maintaining the clergy. Among other things, has helped solve the problem of inequality that exist in the first system of benefits / fair.
The system, however, carries some risks:
- to reduce the accountability of the Community in respect of the life of the Church, the pastoral and the maintenance of the priests;
- to feed the image of the priest as a person automatically is guaranteed throughout the life cycle, from the day of his ordination to the condition of old age and long-term care. He is now more than ever, a privileged, especially if compared to the high percentage of young people (over 30%) forced to live in the flexibility / insecurity.
- also helped create the image of the Italian Church as a Church rich and powerful;
- also entails the risk to the priest - it lacks a solid ascetic - of bureaucracy in his comfortable level of security and be less able to understand people in difficulty;
- Finally, historically the start of the "system has resulted in a 8% ° vertical drop in the number of priests involved in the teaching of religion in public schools, with obvious damage pastoral. The teaching, in fact, allowed the priest to pull almost all the young people, including those who do not attend church.
These different specific risk weight. The most worrying is the first, ie the decline of responsibility of the Christian community. Perhaps for this reason, the Conference of Bishops, from the outset it is committed to promoting the system of tenders deductible. The outcome of this initiative, however, is now judged unsatisfactory. I try to interpret the decline of interest in this proposal the Church with the widespread impression that the Church also has too much money and resulting in the conviction that any deductible offerings should be directed to other agencies in need and more socially engaged.
How then to increase the deductible offered, respecting our ecclesial nature? This is the first reason that makes us realize how important the "Fund Raising" for a religious body.
The other problem in the assets of the Diocesan Institutes i. Today there is objectively a climate polemical towards the Catholic Church. The complaint also Dover, where Fr Mucci talks about a new strategy to fight, by the strong powers of communication, against the Catholic Church. Citing three books just came out, he says with a different method, but with a unique style of derision and contempt they constitute a violent attack on religion, the Church, her doctrine and men who represent it. She is unjustly accused of being "privileged" by the state. It is periodically challenged the system of eight per thousand. It 'possible that this is a tempest in a glass of water, but it can not be ignored.
The men of the Church, in my opinion, should carefully consider the problem to increase as much as possible, the economic autonomy of the Church and to reduce its dependence on the integration of eight per thousand, encouraging donations, bequests, wills etc.. Today - we know - it depends on the maintenance of the priests, for almost 90% from eight per thousand.
Herein lies the second reason for the necessity of fund raising for the Church, especially the Catholic Church and its works, so strongly from 8 per thousand employees. The question we should ask is: how to increase the assets of Religious Institutes even overcoming the natural wariness of people to the centralized and less controllable?
Fund raising for religious bodies, along with fund raising for sports and a few other areas will inevitably grow in the coming years. We need fundraising specializing in religious bodies? We'll talk. [Photo by Franz Maga with a license to use creative commons]
