CHURCHES IN BRIEF
Spain: growing support to the Church The number of taxpayers who decided to devolve to the Catholic Church 7 per thousand of their taxable income registered a slight increase compared to the previous year, rising from 34,83% to 34,87%. The figures were presented a few days ago by the Secretary General, spokesperson of the Spanish Bishops’ Conference (CEE), José María Gil Tamayo, and by CEE deputy Secretary General for economic affairs Fernando Giménez Barriocanal. A total number of 7.339.102 taxpayers decided to devolve 7 per thousand of their income to the Church, amounting to 249 million euro, almost two million more compared to the previous year. As one in two tax statements is compiled in conjunction by spouses, it can be estimated that approximately 9 million people have selected the Catholic Church as the recipient, approximately 900 thousand more compared to 2006. Gil Tamayo pointed out that those who decide to devolve money to the Church contribute to social services and Church activity, “which is primarily spiritual and for evangelization purposes”. Tamayo expressed his appreciation “on behalf of so many people in need” who are helped with the donations to the Church, he welcomed the increase in taxpayers’ decision to devolve deductible income to the Church, despite the decrease in the number of tax statements as a result of the crisis. In fact, figures show that the crisis continues to severely affect the system, as the Church is bound to receive 3.6 million euro less compared to four years ago, even though 150 thousand more tax returns selected the Church as the recipient of deductible income. CEE presented the global results of the tax returns campaign in Spain, along with those on allocation tax of autonomous communities. Madrid, Andalusia and Catalonia are the Communities that deliver the highest amount of resources. Traditionally, the Communities of Murcia and Extremadura present the highest number of tax returns with donations to the Church. Poland: conscientious objection is a right “Conscience understood as a purely human feature confirms the superiority of moral law over statute law”, pointed out the president of the Committee on Bioethics of the Polish Bishops Conference, archbishop of Warsaw-Prague Henryk Hoser on February 20, presenting the position of the episcopate on the right to conscientious objection in response to the opinion expressed by prestigious Polish Academy of Sciences, for which the conscience clause “cannot be used as a tool to impose on others one’s own beliefs, nor “can it justify the doctor’s refusal to prescribe “contraceptives or drugs for emergency contraception”. “Freedom of conscience is a constitutional principle”, the bishops pointed out with reference to the “European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms” (1950) and to the Charter on Fundamental Rights of the European Union (2000), which “stipulate the right to refuse to carry out actions against one’s own conscience”. Ireneusz Mroczkowski, Professor of anthropology and chair of the Bioethics department at the Catholic University of Warsaw, underlined that “if the Church or any other faith eliminated the category of conscience they would be facing a crossroads, not knowing where to go nor which law to abide to”. Slovakia: appeal for social justice Social justice is a fundamental principle for the solution to problems linked to poverty, said the representatives of Caritas Slovakia, underlining the statistics which show that some 124.5 million people in the European Union are at risk of extreme poverty and social exclusion. “Authorities of member States – which include Slovakia – are required to support social justice. Inspired by the voices of those experiencing severe poverty in their everyday lives, we call upon the government, MPs, and local authorities to step up the commitment for its implementation”, said General Secretary of Caritas Slovakia Radovan Gumulák, who added that priority attention should be devoted to children and large families. According to social security registers, over 20 thousand pensioners in Slovakia risk the confiscation of their income because they cannot pay their mounting debts. “Most of them are in dire straits as a result of the vain promises of non-banking institutions which demand excessively high interest rates on loans”, Gumulák said, complaining about the indifference of competent authorities, urging the government to adopt a targeted strategy and adopt legislation to curb “misuse of power” on the part of non-banking financial institutions resulting from a legislative void or by non-specific legislation. “Investing in social development and in social protection systems is critical to ensuring the respect of the dignity of each person. This is what people should bear in mind also during the next elections for the renewal of the European Parliament: the electoral results will play a fundamental role for the future of social Europe”, concluded the General Secretary.
