The German Catholic Bishops Conference issued a decree in September
warning that those Germans who opted out of paying the country’s “church
tax” would no longer be entitled to sacraments, religious burial or any part of parish life.
This “church tax” is a special tax collected in Germany and several
other Western European nations that was introduced in the 19th century
in compensation for the nationalization of religious property. All
Germans who officially register as Catholics, Protestants or Jews on
their tax documentation must pay a religious tax of 8 to 9 percent on
their annual income tax bill.
“If your tax bill is for €10,000, then €800 will go on top of that,
and your total tax combined will be €10,800,” Munich tax accountant
Thomas Zitzelsberger told the bbc News website.
The German government then passes this “church tax” on to the
respective religious organizations. If any person does not want to pay
the tax, he or she must officially register as being “non-religious.”
In 2011, the Catholic Church received €5 billion (us$6.4 billion) from German taxpayers, making up the bulk of the church’s German income.
Recently, there have been a large number of Germans who have been
officially registering as “non-religious,” while still attending
Catholic mass and/or other Catholic functions. This is what prompted the
decree from the German Catholic Bishops Conference.
“This decree makes clear that one cannot partly leave the church,”
the German Bishops Conference said last month, in a statement endorsed
by the Vatican.
So, from here on out, German Catholics either have to be
full-fledged tax-paying members or they have to leave the church
entirely, giving up all rights to the Catholic sacraments.
This decision is significant in that it shows that the Catholic
Church is asserting itself in Germany in a way it has not asserted
itself in many years.
What may be even more significant, however, is the
spotlight that this decision casts on the fact that the German state
actually collects “tithes” for the major religious institutions that
operate within the Fatherland.
In Britain and America, the religious tithe a person pays is a
personal matter between that person and his or her church.
In Germany,
Italy and several other Western European nations, however, people have
to officially register as Catholic, Protestant, Jew or “non-religious.”
The state then collects the tithe of all “religious” people and passes
it on to the church.
Long-time readers of the Trumpet will know that the Bible is
full of passages foretelling of a time when Germany (Assyria) and the
Vatican (Mystery Babylon the Great) will join forces to form one last
revival of the Holy Roman Empire.
How easy would it be for Berlin to
forcibly tax all Germans and turn over their money to Rome, when it is
already involved in tithe collection for state-recognized religions?