Another dose of mental reservation

In the last few days a number of dioceses in Ireland have said that money they will be spending on child sex abuse issues is not coming from Sunday collections.

Is this more 'mental reservation' speak?

A number of years ago a wise Irish Dominican commented that it would not be issues dealing with sex that would be the real problem for the church, rather issues dealing with money.

These days there is a notice in the porch of a church in Ireland advising people not to give money to beggars within the church. The notice also appears in the community's newsletter. In that same newsletter there is an ad for their Easter novena Mass cards.

The acceptance of receiving alms and the fact that people can so easily take alms for granted is so embedded in clerics that the irony of that porch notice is not even noted or seen.

Every cent the Irish church receives is through alms, or at least that was the original source of the money. Over the years a number of clerics did earn salaries but that source of revenue is now much depleted.

To say that the money being spent on child sex abuse cases is not coming from Sunday collections is a terrible untruth and the hierarchical church should be asked to stop using words that do not mean what they say.

The catholic church in Ireland does not pay CGT, which means every school run by the church is in someway or other funded by taxes, through the diocese, order or congregation.

It is simply upsetting hearing bishops and their spokespeople attempt to misinform people. Money is seldom if ever ring fenced. Alms of their nature cannot be ring fenced.