Surprise from 8xmille: the Italians gave 60 million euros less to the Italian Catholic Church. The figure was released today during the final day of the CEI General Assembly. The sum is equal to 995 million, down from the previous one billion and 54 million.
The numbers refer to the tax returns of 2012 (on 2011 income), the year in which some scandals involving the Church broke out, including Vatileaks. The drop in signatures in favor of the Church was two percentage points that year, from 82,28 to 80,22 percent. The effects on Church spending, however, are only being felt this year.
In detail, as regards the allocation of funds, the CEI has decided to cut about 30 million euros to worship needs and just under 20 million to places of worship, but it has also given the green light to an increase of 20 million euros for the charitable works of the Church. One million more also to the ecclesiastical courts (where cases of marriage nullity are discussed), in order to support the costs of the applicants.
On the other hand, support for the salaries of the clergy decreased (-50 million). For 7 years, priests have had their salary frozen: “The reasons are obvious – explained Cardinal Angelo Bagnasco -, the general picture of the country's difficulties tells us so. And for this reason, no one among the priests complains".
