Madam, – Sandra Doody (January 27th) suggests that a “Count me in” website might be a good way to judge support for the Catholic church. Might I suggest the reintroduction of the tithe as a better way to find out who is in and who is out?
This system works very well in several countries including Germany and Finland where people declaring themselves as belonging to a Christian church pay a percentage of their income tax to a fund that is divided between all the Christian churches. Anyone who has been christened but doesn’t want to pay this tax merely has to declare themselves as having left the church at their local court.
This system would have the added benefit of allowing the Christian churches in Ireland to be funded by their members, rather than by their tax-free status as a charitable institution.
I feel we’d get a better idea of the active membership of the Catholic Church if its claimed members were asked to put their money behind their convictions. – Yours, etc,