GERMANY
Catholic Online
By Catholic Online (NEWS CONSORTIUM)
9/25/2012
Catholic Online (www.catholic.org)
German Catholics have left their churches following priest sex scandals
If they fail to pay a special tax, Germany’s Roman Catholics will be denied the right to Holy Communion or a religious burial. A German bishops’ decree has just come into force says that anyone failing to pay the tax, which is an extra eight percent of their income tax bill – they will no longer be considered a Catholic.
While Catholics make up around 30 percent of Germany’s population, the number of the former faithful leaving the church has climbed to 181,000 in 2010. The exodus has been blamed on revelations of sexual abuse by German priests.
LOS ANGELES, CA (Catholic Online) – The bishops say they have been alarmed by the number of Catholics leaving the Church, and such a step would be seen as a serious act against the community.
All Germans who are officially registered as Catholics, Protestants or Jews pay a religious tax of eight to nine percent on their annual income tax bill. The levy was introduced in the 19th Century in compensation for the nationalization of religious property.
“If your tax bill is for 10,000 euros, then 800 euros will go on top of that and your total tax combined will be 10,800 euros,” Munich tax accountant Thomas Zitzelsberger says.
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