with hands in the till
Some say it is the clergy's turn to declare their wealth. Good idea. Render to Caesar what belongs to Caesar. The clergy need to be transparent about their money and be held accountable. Otherwise demanding it from others would be insincere and even hypocritical. Public figures have declared their wealth. All the more reason for the clergy to do the same.
The rupture in the Church 400 years ago during the times of Martin Luther was due to many factors. Historians agree, though, that the scandalous wealth accumulated by some clergy fuelled the fire as much as any dispute over biblical teaching. Ever since then church leaders have worried that they might once again make money their priority and abandon the Gospel in favour of building up bank accounts.
Pope John Paul's regret for the "sorrowful memories" that led to division among Christians and his request for forgiveness for whatever guilt Catholics bear explains why bishops and priests must renounce all forms of luxury. Christ calls all Christians to be poor in spirit. "Unfortunately, even those who have been ordained to service can at times fall victim to unhealthy cultural or societal trends that undermine their credibility and seriously hamper their mission.''
As men of faith, priests must not let the temptation of power or material gain distract them from their vocations," the Pope said in a recent meeting with Catholic bishops.
A few years ago, a handful of TV evangelists and prominent preachers in the United States were caught with their hands in the till. The only reason they were caught stealing was the strict accounting practices demanded of churches and all other non-profit organisations that get tax breaks for providing social services. While this causes embarrassment to Christians in general, it is better to nip corruption in the bud. Some argue that if the government has power to monitor the finances of churches and clergy, it will end up interfering with religious belief.
The danger exists. Governments have abused laws on declaring wealth as an excuse to harass clergy whose demands for social justice annoyed the ruling party. No system is perfect. The greater risk, though, is that clergy might abuse their position of trust. This problem goes back to the earliest times. St Paul warned Christians that some preachers "imagine that religion is a way of making a profit".
The Kanungu Disaster in 2000 is a gruesome reminder. Close to a thousand Ugandans were burned alive inside their church while Joseph Kibwatere seemed s to have run away with the money they had handed over to him. They were pressing him for an explanation on why the world did not end on January 1 as he had promised. It is easy to say: "But that was a cult. We don't run our churches that way." Even so, we need financial transparency from all religious groups no matter how they describe themselves.
The government cannot distinguish between a church and a cult without getting entangled in doctrinal questions it has no business to judge. But it can judge money. If the leaders of a religious organisation are mishandling funds, it does not matter whether their spiritual teachings are right or wrong. The government must intervene because it has an obligation to protect the community against theft and fraud. Many faith communities account to no one.
Even those that account to a superior governing body rarely have to face the sort of grilling on finances that other institutions face every year. Having no training in the matter, some of the best preachers cannot keep the books and have no management skills. With the best of intentions, clergy can be careless when it comes to distinguishing between personal and church expenses. Anyone who runs a business will tell you that these circumstances make a good recipe for vanishing funds. Church leaders have been courageous in demanding a full-scale battle on corruption. Hopefully they will be the first to support any call from the government to apply the same criterion a to themselves.
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