The Taxman and Paying for Masses
Third Sector reports that the Roman Catholic Church (RCC) appear set to take HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) to court in order to clarify the taxable status of mass offerings, or stipends. These offerings are a sum of money given to a priest which obliges him, once accepted, to offer mass on behalf of a specified individual, living or dead. Although it is not said to be compulsory, it is expected that money will be paid in advance, with £10 being the donation amount frequently set.
The RCC believe that they should be able to claim Gift Aid on this money because they are donations. HMRC assert that even though payment is not compulsory the offerings constitute a transaction for a service rendered, rather than a donation. An HMRC spokesman said: “No priest will de facto ask for a payment for this mass to be said, but it is understood by both parties that payment is to be made – so this can’t be Gift Aided. It is not a gift – it’s a transaction.” Recent years have witnessed a greater decline in mass offerings, but the RCC expect that they could gain around £1.3m a year from Gift Aid, while an HMRC spokesman said that the figure could be considerably higher than this.
Mass offerings certainly sound like “simony” (Acts 8:9-24), something condemned by the Roman Catholic Catechism (para 2121) which defines it as “the buying and selling of spiritual things”. HMRC evidently believe that this is what is taking place. Roman Catholic theologians have done their best to distinguish these offerings from simony by claiming that, while it is a contract arrangement, they are simply part of the financial support given to priests. They justify such payments from the example of Judas Maccabeus in the Apocrypha (2 Macc 12:43). Since priests believe that they are offering Christ afresh in the masses that they are paid for, however, perhaps there is also the example of Judas Iscariot, who gained financially from the crucifixion. The practice of private masses for money was hugely popular in medieval times and has been given authority from Popes and Councils.
In recent decades, stipends have been referred to simply as offerings, and Canon law was introduced in 1983 to seek to prohibit the appearance of trading. No such prohibitions were observed when Martin Luther witnessed the greedy gain made of such offerings; he referred to “countless and unspeakable abuses . . . everywhere through the buying and selling of masses”. He observed that “transgression begat superstition; superstition begat satisfaction; satisfaction begat the mass-offering; the mass-offering begat the priest; the priest begat unbelief; unbelief begat hypocrisy; hypocrisy begat traffic in offerings for gain; traffic in offerings for gain begat purgatory”.
It is evident how solemnly far Rome remains from the gospel of free grace that openly offers the spiritual feast of Christ’s benefits: “He that hath no money: come ye, buy and eat; yea, come buy wine and milk without money and without price” (Is 55:1). MV