Thanks to work by those such as Real Catholic TV, the USCCB is under a little heat for their support of organizations who consistently work against Catholic teaching.
The Church teaches us that, in order to do good, we're not to cooperate with evil. Yet isn't this exactly what the USCCB is doing, when they partner with so many organizations that promote the tenets of the sexual revolution (abortion, homosexuality, birth control, etc.)?
How can I support my local parish, when I know that it has to turn over a particular % to the Diocese, who in turn financially supports the USCCB? Can I give a check with a note that says "Only for local parish support"? If I don't put anything in the basket, I know I'm shortchanging my parish. So I still give. But I ain't happy about it. I know God loves a cheerful giver, and He's not too happy with an "uncheerful" giver, but how does He feel about us middle-of-the-road guys - the "mixed feelings" givers?
Check out Real Catholic TV's latest, and keep an eye out at the :50 mark - they've picked up some art from the good ol' Cartoon Blog to highlight their news.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WRBeEjJhG0k
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6 comments:
Our family tithes to our parish but we give NOTHING to the annual Bishop's appeal, nor anything to do with the bishop or USCCB. We do give to Peter's pence still of course. I know our parish must give to the Bishop but we have no control over that. Our duty is to give to the parish what they do with it is outside our control and so I pray the Lord will have mercy on us who have given if our monies were used for evil.
I do likewise. Can I forsake my home parish because of what the higher-ups might do down the line? No, I can't do that. I know plenty of people out there advocate this, but the ones who will suffer first are the home parishes.
And the Bishops' Lenten Appeal? It's not much of an "appeal" if you have a required amount. They should just change the name to the "Bishop's Diocesan Tax", because even if giving is down, the parish still has to pony up a pre-determined amount. In my book, that's called a tax.
And the Bishops' Lenten Appeal? It's not much of an "appeal" if you have a required amount. They should just change the name to the "Bishop's Diocesan Tax", because even if giving is down, the parish still has to pony up a pre-determined amount. In my book, that's called a tax.
Ouch Paul. Is that true in every diocese? If so, that's awful because taking a principled stand doesn't hurt them at all but just hurts your parish.
I think it's pretty standard, Romish. I've only been in two, the Arch. of Baltimore, and the Diocese of Harrisburg, and I've heard the same in both.
The appeal is made to cover the "tax" because otherwise the parish must make up the shortfall from the parish budget.
Unfortunately, there is no way out. If one gives only to the parish, a percentage of all of lasts years donations is what they use to determine the parish's required donation to the diocese. One way around it is to give to just the poor box, but this doesn't help one's parish. The only other way is to pay for items and then donate them to the parish.
At this point, I no longer give money to the poor box. I give hard goods only (food, clothing); that way I know it won't go into Democrat coffers. I used to give to St. Vincent DePaul and Catholic Charities to help the poor until I found out they used my money to pass Obamacare and get Obama elected. I give money to a shrine in Chicago that is not a parish. I am not sure if the tax applies to them. I give minimally to a parish in my area, but I don't officially belong to one for the reasons mentioned here. I'd like to see all the Archdioceses go bankrupt, since they are little more than a Democratic Socialist machine. If a schism against Rome occurs, the faithful parishes can band together and support themselves independent of an Archdiocese.
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