Bishop Turkson demands new financial strategies for African churches!

Bishop Turkson demands new financial strategies for African churches!

Bonn, Deutschland - Bonn, 20.03.2025 - Cardinal Peter Turkson, the Chancellor of the Pontifical Academy for Social Sciences, emphasizes in an urgent message that bishops in Africa have to develop more business sense to finance their churches. "Bishops have to become more independent of donations," said Turkson in an interview with the Catholic News Agency (KNA). According to him, the bishops should consider interest -free loans from European dioceses as a new source of financing. This is a necessary step to create sustainable flows of money. The recent declines in church tax revenue, especially in Germany, underline the need for innovative financing approaches.

A central point of Turkson's reasoning is that models based on donations are no longer viable. He warned that the coffers of the churches could be empty at some point if the money is not laid out and repaid. The funds that the church needs flow into essential areas such as schools and hospitals. "As a church that takes care of the poor, we also need resources for it," continued Turkson. For the financing of these infrastructures, the Vatican document "Mensuram Bonam", which offers practical recommendations for dealing with capital investments, shows a way to promote more responsible investments.

state benefits of the churches

In addition to the donations and income from church taxes, which in 2022 was around 12.9 billion euros and thus over 200 million euros more than in the previous year, the churches in Germany receive significant government benefits. In 2023, these payments amounted to around 602 million euros, which flowed directly from the federal states to the Evangelical and Catholic churches, as dasfinanzen.de . These funds are used to finance personnel and the operation of church institutions. Bishops and high clergymen sometimes even receive their salaries from the state treasury. Turkson sees the mere dependence on such state payments and donations a fundamental question of responsibility and dignity for the church leadership.