Catholic church weddings and the collection

So I was at this wedding today at the St Anna Kirche at Lehel.. Service was long and boring as is always the case at catholic services and the whole wedding ceremony seemed very "rigid" with both parties sounding uncomfortable with the words they said. Anyhow, we were at the end of the ceremony and the priest (Father Bill was his name - made me chuckle) was eating that wafer thingy and drinking the wine stuff when his assistant comes around with the collection tray.

Now, I ask myself, just what is the point of paying hundreds of Euros per year on pointless Kirchensteuer when you are still requested to hand over cash at the service.. Ok, so I did not hand over any and I do not pay Kirchensteuer but I do wonder what the hell the church does with all that cash if they are trying to get more every week at the services...

I think it is extremely tacky to pass around a collection plate at a wedding. Why not just sell tickets to your attendees or charge an entrance fee at the door?

One more reason not to get married in Germany and not to get married in a church.

Isn't a "real" catholic (man) supposed to dedicate a much larger portion of his salary to the church? So that they can...umm...teach kids about abstinence, I guess.

I spoke to him on the phone once. Seemed like a pleasant enough chap.


Winegirl, the money goes to the church, not to the couple getting married.

at a catholic wedding i was at recently, the altar boys waited politely at the door and hoped for some change as we all were leaving the church. i felt that was okay.

Just curious. How much does the priest/church charge for the wedding ceremony?

We "donated" about 100 DM to the priest/church that married us. I think.

Considerin how much you'd pay to rent a hall of that size/level of decor etc etc y'all are getting a great deal and should be happy to fork out

@ Parnell - did that sound like I was complaining? It was a cool church, and my non church going husband still pays his church taxes - so it really costs much more than that for our 30 minute ceremony.
For the reception hall we paid more. But that included cool decore and food and drink and a band.

@ DDBug
Actually no , but that seems to be the feeling on the thread - if yer husband doesnt go to Mass then why pay taxes though (unless of course he feels the church does some good in the World)

I'm not entirely crazy about Churches , I'm not even crazy about lavish weddings but if ya want the venue then it seems like you should pay for it.

The church wedding was his idea - I wanted to go to Vegas for an Elvis thing. Oh well. At least it was a cool church (the one right next to the Oktoberfest grounds).

I would like to know if you have to pay Catholic Church Tax to get married in a Catholic Church or is it possible to just donate something to the priest and the Church ?I mean you have to do the civil cermony here anyway for it to be legal. Being Irish I think Church Tax is a crazy idea. In Ireland the Churches are glad if people even come to Mass nevermind paying for the privilage.

That tradition of putting a dollar in a bucket in order to dance with the bride or groom is also really lame

As far as I know, you have to pay church tax in order to get married in a church. If on your registration form you mark that you are catholic, then that is where your money goes. I guess you could probably have a protestant ceremony if you wanted.

The money goes on very worthwhile church youth activities. The churche did a lot for my wife when she was young, tgaking groups (teenagers) out on trips in the mountaiuns. They even have a hut in the mountains by Tegernsee where the groups go.

Although non-religious myself I still respect what they have done for younger people here. My wife's leader was not preachy and very modern. Many of her friends met their wives through the youth group. So it is a very poositive force in Germany.

I agree the Church do good work here. But the Churches in Ireland/England & the US do the same work and the people who go to Mass just contribute to this. In the bible it is never mentioned that you have to pay to go to mass. Churches in other countries can manage on what is contriubted by the congregation and donations so why not here ? Is it another form of rules/regulation & bureaucracy that the German's so love ...

friends of mine got married very recently in a protestant ceremony but in a catholic chapel. not sure how they managed to pull this off, but i was glad as a full blown catholic wedding here takes something over 2 hours (in latin and bavarian!)

I often use the poositive force myself, in fact I just did. feel much better now, thanks.

Just to clarify a few issues here: Church Tax does not go into a central pot but whatever tax you pay goes to the Bistum where you live. In munich that is the Bistum München and Freising. The head of the Bistum then decides with his treasury where the money goes, what church gets what etc and who receives funds.
the money you are giving out in the church service is extra cash which will enable them to do things which are not funded by the Bistum. so whatever money you are giving is used within your community.