The Catholic Church is currently overfunded. Money equals power. Therefore, to say that the church in Slovakia is a power organization is not an exaggeration at all, because it has an unreasonable amount of money with which it can have a huge influence on society and public opinion. However, this is contrary to what Christ preached – Christ preached poverty and refused to become the Jewish king, even though people wanted him to. The Slovak Catholic Church is therefore an anti-Christian organization. Most Catholic believers also have an anti-Christian mindset, because they wish to have the church as well-funded as possible with the greatest possible power and influence on politics. Politicians could help the church change from an anti-Christian organization to a Christian one, but since 1989 all politicians have behaved as if they had no power, as if the church held them by the balls, as if the church dictated what they should do and they obediently obeyed it. Even the head of the department of the Ministry of Culture for churches told me frankly that there would be no change in church funding because the church simply did not wish it. So who rules here? The church or politicians? Answer for yourselves. You can use the Freedom of Information Act and there they will confirm that what I am saying is really true – the church dictates to politicians what they should do and they obediently obey it.
The Church has special privileges from the state. The financing of the Church is unconstitutional because the constitution defines the equality of all before the law. From a legal point of view, the Church is an organization. While the Church is drowning in money, other non-religious organizations are struggling to get subsidies from individual ministries. The financing of the Church is a medieval relic. The Church still spreads fear – politicians are afraid of the Church.
I propose the Dutch model of church financing.
The current financing of the church cannot be described as democratic, but rather as dictatorial. To this day, the model of financing, which allegedly dates back to Maria Theresa, has been preserved by tradition in Slovakia. Catholic priests are essentially employees of the Ministry of Culture; they are directly paid from the state budget. In addition, the church as an organization receives regular generous subsidies, which I think in the case of the Catholic Church amounts to tens of millions of euros annually. The church certainly cannot complain about a lack of funds.The life of a priest is extremely easy and comfortable. While an ordinary person works at least 8 hours a day, under stress, they have to pay rent, mortgage, heating costs, and costs for their children's clothes, studies, and travel, a Catholic priest is the master of his own rectory and gets it automatically for free. All heating and maintenance costs come from parish money, which people collect, and if there is not enough parish money for reconstruction, the priest can ask the bishop's office for money, which always has enough. A Catholic priest works on average about two hours a day. The only expenses of a Catholic priest are a car, petrol, and food. There are priests who are only priests for the sake of money and a comfortable life. Every priest who keeps his mouth shut and in step, who does not criticize the church in any way, will retain this luxury. However, whoever criticizes the conditions in the church, such as priest Michal Lajcha, will be quickly deprived of this luxurious life by the bishops. It is absurd that the state pays the priest, but the state authorities have no influence on whether the priest will continue to receive a salary from the state.
The church tax is also a rather dictatorial way of financing the church, because the state does not allow a citizen to democratically determine what percentage of their salary they want to give to the church. The state forces a citizen to pay a fixed percentage of their salary. In this way, the church can theoretically get even more money than before.
The Dutch model of financing is very good – and note, not only the Dutch model, but it is similar in several Western countries. It is a financing based solely on voluntary contributions. The church in the Netherlands is so financially bad that it has to charge an entrance fee, they call it, I think, Sitzplatz – a place to sit. I heard that many parishes in the Netherlands are even getting into debt because the heating costs are high and without heating, no one would come to church. The Dutch model of financing is the most democratic because the citizen himself determines how much he will support the church. In the Netherlands, the church does not live in such luxury as in Slovakia. The church in Slovakia is artificially and forcibly subsidized, without the state asking the citizens whether they agree with such overly generous subsidies.
In Slovakia, many priests are only priests for the money. In the Netherlands, the church lives modestly, which is in line with the Gospel of Christ. The Slovak church lives in luxury, which is contrary to the teachings of Christ.
Medieval financing of the church in Slovakia hinders its reform
The current financing of the church causes all Catholic priests to operate out of fear. Fear of losing huge financial benefits if they dared to criticize anything in the church. I have heard of priests who, after being suspended, ended up on the street or in another very bad social situation. A Catholic priest has only two options – either keep his mouth shut and live in luxury, or express his opinion and end up homeless on the street. The Michal Lajcha case has further deepened the priests' fear of bishops (and their officials). It is a clear signal to priests that if they do not keep their mouths shut and toe the line, if they deviate even a millimeter from the official line of the Catholic Church, they will end up like Lajcha.Priests are literally slaves to the bishop, his servants; priests are absolutely subject to the bishop in a strict hierarchy.
On the contrary, in the Netherlands, where the church is financed in accordance with the Gospel of Christ, it is not possible to blackmail priests in this way. If a bishop is dissatisfied with a priest, the priest can say to the bishop: "Bishop, you have few priests, if you have a problem, go jump in a lake, I can find a better-paid job."
Current funding prevents any reform of the church. The church can be reformed either from the top, that is, from the Vatican, or from the bottom by ordinary priests. Reform from the bottom can only happen if discussion is allowed in the church. However, a medieval atmosphere prevails in the church in Slovakia; the bishops made it clear in the Michal Lajcha case that discussion in the Catholic Church is forbidden, even for such a cosmetic reform. With Dutch funding of the church, the conditions would be set by the priests, not the bishops, and such decentralization would create better conditions for discussion and reform of the church. Some priests might be willing to discuss openly and publicly even the crimes of the Catholic Church, but at present they cannot afford to do so. In the Catholic Church in Slovakia, a priest is strictly forbidden to have his own opinion.
The following lines of the Bible from St. Paul would be very difficult to read for Catholic priests (and church officials) who live in comfort and luxury!!!!!!!
Catholic priests, although they work an average of 2 hours a day, have a salary of 700 Euros per month, which comes out to about 15 Euros per hour net. A Catholic priest receives a huge salary for doing nothing and has no expenses other than, at most, paying off a car lease. Catholic priests really have nothing to spend their money on, and many of them buy a new car every two years. After paying off one car lease, they immediately buy a second one after two years. Tell me, what percentage of Slovaks can afford such luxury, but in Slovakia, every Catholic priest can afford this.Most priests teach religion in schools, which is another source of income.
For each Mass celebrated for the intention of the Mass, which he has every day, a Catholic priest receives at least 5 euros, with most people giving more. 10 x 30 is 300 euros per month.
The Middle Ages did not end in Slovakia. The Middle Ages continue.
We know from the Bible that St. Paul worked and earned his living by making tents. In contrast, Catholic priests do not work at all. Do you know a priest who would commute to a factory for work? Of course not.
According to the Bible, the Apostle Paul openly refused to be financed by believers. In contrast, a Catholic priest receives 10 to 20 Euros as a gift at each mass.
In the Bible, the Apostle Paul clearly states that he does not want to live at the expense of others financially, so he worked himself. But Catholic priests in Slovakia live at the expense of others with taxpayers' money. Catholic priests should rightly live very modestly, following Paul's example, they should refuse any gifts and should live exclusively from honest work and honest employment. A Catholic priest, following the example of Saint Paul, should work 8 hours a day in a factory, and only if he has time left, he should devote himself to religious activities in his free time and do it all for free.
The Catholic Church and Protestant churches say that the Bible is infallible, so believers are obliged to follow what is in the Bible. So be it! The Catholic Church should, by rights, ask politicians of its own free will to completely cut it off from state finances. But that did not happen.
Christians say they prefer the New Testament to the Old Testament. But this is not always the case. Only when it suits them. In the USA, where the church is completely cut off from the state budget and there is no church tax, church pastors are again pushing hard on believers to hand over so-called tithes to the church, which comes from the Old Testament. This means that according to this rule, you have to give 10% of your salary to the pastor.
He made tents.
The Acts of the Apostles – Chapter 18
1 Then he left Athens and came to Corinth.
2 There he found a Jew named Aquila, a native of Pontus, who had recently come from Italy, and his wife Priscilla, because Claudius had ordered all Jews to leave Rome. He joined them,
3 and because he had the same trade, he stayed with them and worked; they were tent makers.
The Acts of the Apostles – Chapter 20
33 I have not coveted anyone's silver or gold or clothing. 34 You yourselves know that these hands have provided for my own needs and for those who were with me. 35 In everything I showed you that by working hard in this way we must support the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, because he himself said, 'It is more blessed to give than to receive.'
1 Corinthians – Chapter 4
12 We work hard with our own hands; when they curse us, we bless; when they persecute us, we endure it,
Second Letter to the Thessalonians – Chapter 3
6 Brothers, we command you in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to keep away from any brother who is living in idleness and not in accord with the tradition that you received from us. 7 For you yourselves know how you ought to imitate us, because we were not idle among you, 8 nor did we eat anyone's bread without paying for it, but with toil and labor we worked night and day in order not to be a burden to any of you. 9 It was not because we have no right to do so, but in order to give you ourselves as a model for you to imitate.
Philippians – Chapter 4
15 You Philippians know that when I left Macedonia, no church shared with me in the matter of giving and receiving, except you only. 16 For even when I was in Thessalonica, you sent me something I needed once and again. 17 Not that I am looking for a gift, but I am looking for profit that may be credited to your account.