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by looping__lui 1209 days ago
I talked about hospitals, kindergardens or schools under church operation. The government / public pays for that for the biggest part. I as a German tax payer also pay for the salaries of bishops etc. Not to me to mention religious mass festivals like “Kirchentag”: 50+% paid for by German citizens. The German church is collecting it’s “church tax” through the German IRS. And here is some fun fact: the burden of proof that you have left the church (if they happen to find out your parents baptised you) is on the individual. So, assuming that your parents had you baptised you will be liable for church taxes for the rest of your life unless you go to city hall and have it documented. The Catholic tax authority by law only is responsible to keep record of the notice that you left church for 10 years and can then demand (until the rest of your life) that you show a legal proof of having left the church. Happened to me. As a baby - you get baptised without consent. The Catholic church in Germany surely enough hunts you down for taxes until you die. In Eastern Germany there are often no good records - hence the church often forces a negotiated “settlement”.