Sergio Rubin
06/30/2020 - 19:04
- Clarín.com
- Society
The rudimentary bags and baskets that are brought to the faithful during the masses and the piggy banks arranged at the entrance of the Catholic temples of Argentina ..., are they about to go down in history? Not necessarily, but in a short time - at least that is the claim - they will no longer be the main form of financial contribution of the faithful.
It is that the Church -in line with new technologies and changes in habits- launched this Tuesday a portal to receive donations that allow the self - sustainability of its religious and charitable mission and thus fulfill its announced resignation from the economic contribution of the State established in the article 2 of the Constitution.
After the debate on the decriminalization of abortion and the demand for the "separation" of the Church and the State from sectors that favored the law, the Episcopal Conference announced in 2018 its decision to "progressively" dispense with state funds , today about 150 million pesos annually.
Although the contribution of the State - fundamentally monthly allocations to bishops, border priests and diocesan seminarians - covers only ten percent of the total budget of the Church, and is of great help to the poorest dioceses , its resignation has great significance. politics.
The bishops' decision forced the acceleration of studies that were already being carried out to achieve self-support , which included a large national survey of people's perception of the role of the Church and their willingness to collaborate, and the design of the tools technology to raise.
The designed site -www.programafe.org- was launched by the President of the Episcopate, Monsignor Oscar Ojea, and the head of the commission for the Sustaining of the Evangelizing Action of the Church, Monsignor Guillermo Caride, through a presentation broadcast on the networks social.
In an easy way, the site offers to donate $ 500, $ 1,000, $ 5,000 or other amount monthly or one-time by credit or debit card or transfer by CBU, with the possibility of allocating it to the Church nationwide, to one of the 66 diocese of the country or to a specific parish.
In addition, on the site some of the religious and solidarity works of the Church are briefly exposed and it is clarified that it is going to "render clear accounts of what has been done with all the proceeds" for which an "annual report detailing each work that it was done and every place where we help ”.
The commission for the support detailed that to design the program it worked advised by lay people, the consulting firm Voices! and the digital marketing agency Kiev. And that more information can be obtained permanently on the networks at the following addresses:
Facebook: www.facebook.com/programafeargentina. Twitter: www.twitter.com/programa_fe. Instagram: www.instagram.com/programafe
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