Question for Catholics (Catholic Church Crisis) (1 Viewer)

I’m curious how much money a priest gets for retirement. Sounds like they live pretty well .

I don't know tbh. But, from personal experience being a minister, many, many ministers retire and die poor. Most are never able to save very much, have no retirement other than SS, and many don't ever retire.

I was a minister for many years. Many church pastors aren't able to build up a nest egg because the parsonage they live in isn't theirs. They end up not being able to build equity in a home and most don't save nearly enough. There are no doubt some wealthy ministers out there, but they are extremely few and far between.

I'm not as familiar with retirements for Catholic priests though. More than a few do take vows of poverty, so ultimately more than a few are not well off.
 
The very famous John 3:16:
"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. "

I think it is very clear what happens if you don't believe in him.

By grace through faith. No faith, no ticket.
"All created things must decay. Work out your own salvation with diligence"
--The Buddha

Buddhsim teaches dependent origination where all things are interconnected, and the notion of an individual self is considered false and delusional. Indeed, the notion that my actions are mine alone and do not affect others is the most self- and world-destructive notion to which humans in general and Americans in particular cling
 
I don't know tbh. But, from personal experience being a minister, many, many ministers retire and die poor. Most are never able to save very much, have no retirement other than SS, and many don't ever retire.

I was a minister for many years. Many church pastors aren't able to build up a nest egg because the parsonage they live in isn't theirs. They end up not being able to build equity in a home and most don't save nearly enough. There are no doubt some wealthy ministers out there, but they are extremely few and far between.

I'm not as familiar with retirements for Catholic priests though. More than a few do take vows of poverty, so ultimately more than a few are not well off.
Well, if you would just practice prosperity theology as espoused by the likes of Joel Osteen you wouldn't be poor. Joel would pray for you, he just wouldn't actually DO anything for you :hihi:
 
You don’t have to pay taxes either.

That's not actually true. The churches are tax exempt. But ministers pay taxes like everyone else.

I always did my own taxes. Filed as a self-employed minister, reported income and expenses on Schedule C and paid self employment tax to pay into FICA/SS. So yeah.
 
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Correct, however, while faith alone is not enough, faith seems to be a requirement.

John 3:18
Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.

John 3:36
Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.

Ephesians 2:8-10
For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.

Hebrews 11:16
And without faith it is impossible to please him.

Mark 16:16
Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.
There is also the notion of doubt as a cornerstone of religion. Christian mysticism addressed doubt with the concept of The Dark night of the Soul, in which even the most devout have periods, which can last years, of crushing doubt about their chosen path.

Doubt, along with Faith and Perseverance is considered one of the three pillars of Zen. To merely accept any tenet with blind faith is seen as unskillful. Doubt is seen as the essential questioning of what we're doing, why we're doing it, and what we might expect as an outcome.

For disciples of both Zen and Christianity, to emerge from this period of doubt with your faith still intact would render that faith much stronger than one who has accepted his/her lot on blind faith alone.
 

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