PARISHES are struggling to pay for necessary expenses as the cost of living continues to increase around the country.
Combined with parishes’ increased costs, members of congregations are finding it difficult to put money in collection plates as a result of their own rising household expenses.
While some Catholics may not know where their donations are going, a number of parishes in Perth now make their collection figures available the following week in the parish bulletin.
One parish that goes a step further is St Paul’s in Mt Lawley, where the parish makes public both the collection amounts and a list of weekly expenses.
On the weekend of July 20-21, St Paul’s collected $1,483.80 but the parish expenses that week reached more than $4,000.
The expenses included plumbing and roof repairs, and $1,900 worth of tree lopping.
While collection amounts vary from week to week, of the parishes that publicised their collections for the July 20-21 weekend, the average total was about $1,850.
With the financial year finishing recently, some parishes are also making their income and expenditure statements available.
Our Lady of Grace Parish in North Beach collected $214,295 during the 2012-13 financial year, with more than 85 per cent received via the parish’s second collection.
But capital expenditure exceeded the parish’s income for the year by more than $10,000.
The Record was informed that the money received in the first collection provides the annual income for a diocesan priest in Perth, which goes on daily expenses such as food and petrol.
If the first collection amounts to more than is required, the Archdiocese uses the additional funds to help sustain other parish priests whose income is insufficient.
The proceeds of the second collection are used on parish expenses, such as building repairs, council rates and telephone bills. A portion of the second collection is also given to the Archdiocese to support projects such as new church buildings.
Finances in every diocese around the world are governed by the Code of Canon Law, which calls for finance councils to be set up for each diocese.
It is understood that dioceses differ in the way they distribute parish funds received from the Mass collections.
The annual income of a Catholic priest is substantially less than that of other religious leaders. An American survey in 2010 reported that Protestant church pastors can receive as much as $400,000 a year.