The Bangladesh Catholic Bishops Conference has officially decided not to accept a government offer of a monthly allowance for priests. Source: Crux.
The bishops thanked the government for including Catholic clergy in the monthly allowance program, which the government of recently elected Prime Minister Tarique Rahman announced on March 14, fulfilling a campaign promise.
The program provides for all clergy across religions and denominations in Bangladesh, a country of 180 million inhabitants, only some 600,000 of whom are Christian.
The allowance scheme is the first in the history of the South Asian country, and the decision of Catholic bishops not to participate did not diminish their gratitude to the government for the effort or for the consideration Catholic clerics received.
“We humbly decline to accept the proposed allowance for priests,” said Archbishop Bejoy D’ Cruze of Dhaka, president of the conference.
“However,” Bishop D’Cruze said in his statement at the weekend, “it is noted that if pastors of any other church outside the Catholic Church wish to accept this honorarium, we have no objection because many of them have homes and families.”
“Priests freely dedicate their lives to preaching the Word of God and providing spiritual and pastoral services,” and rely on gifts and donations from the faithful, who in supporting their work “practice love and generosity towards God and towards us.”
Bishop D’ Cruze also proposed “that the Ministry of Religion or the Christian Religious Welfare Trust should assist in social activities beneficial to the Christian community.”
Among the initiatives Bishop D’Cruze mentioned were an educational allowance for poor children, medical and health care for the poor, allowances for the elderly, widows, and the disabled, and assistance with the construction of worship spaces.
He also mentioned the establishment of new cemeteries and the renovation of existing ones, which would benefit the Christian community.
According to the 2019 Bangladesh Catholic Directory, there are 119 parishes and 52 sub-parishes in country’s eight dioceses, serving a Catholic population of roughly 400,000 or two thirds of all Christians in the country.
FULL STORY
Bangladesh Bishops decline government stipend for Catholic clerics (Crux)
