Money is involved in everything
In the autumn of 2023, I entered the 15th year of endless self-defense against the wilfulness of the Archbishopric of Prague.
In November 2023, at a court hearing, the attorney for the archbishopric made the following statement:
"We keep offering conciliation ... simply the plaintiff says she cannot accept the decree because she is not a cleric because she is a woman, we say she can accept the decree because she is a cleric, and we never agree on that, so unfortunately, the situation is what it is...":
At the end of 2023, one of my acquaintances, an employee of the archbishopric, told me:
"You should stop arguing. Wouldn't it be better to make peace?" I would like to point out that I have already heard many similar remarks. Where have we come in Western society that there are people among us who think that defending ourselves against an aggressor is inappropriate? This thinking is guided by the same pattern, whether it is about nations or individuals. Ukraine should stop defending itself so that there will be peace. Likewise, Israel. I, as an individual, should also stop defending the abuse of church power and make peace, which is, of course, dictated by the other side.
And so, I have no choice but to reveal the behind-the-scenes of the tragicomedy. Finance. Yes, there is another stage behind the scenes - the financial stage.
First, a summary of the clergy in the Catholic Church and women in the same Church. The Roman Catholic Church has a basic internal code that is valid and binding for Roman Catholics all over the world. This regulation is the Code of Canon Law. The Code divides Catholic Christians into sacred ministers or clergy (clerics) and lay people.
According to the Code, the laity are those Christians who have not received the sacrament of ordination.
A Christian becomes a cleric by receiving the sacrament of the ordination of the diaconate. Only a baptized man can receive the sacrament of ordination.
Other Vatican documents speak similarly, which I will not burden you with here and now.
Even the Czech Act on Churches mentions clergy and lay workers. According to this Act, churches appoint and dismiss their clergy according to their regulations, independently of state authorities.
The Act on Churches required churches to draw up a Basic Document, which must include the appointment and dismissal of clergy and a list of designations of clergy used in the church.
In the Basic Document, the Czech Bishops' Conference purposely stated and approved that the Code of Canon Law does not recognize the term clergy (cleric) in the narrow sense of the word, which is a false statement, as the Codex precisely defines who is a cleric. Furthermore, the Basic Document states that in addition to bishops, priests, and deacons, pastoral assistants, lectors, acolytes, catechists, and others are also considered clergy. Which, of course, they are lay people (laity) because they have not received the sacrament of ordination.
The Supreme Court of the Czech Republic confirmed that the basic internal code of the Roman Catholic Church is the Code of Canon Law.
The Constitutional Court of the Czech Republic stated that, in the case of the Roman Catholic Church, the Code of Canon Law is a part of the so-called Basic Document.
Moreover, the Constitutional Court stated that the Basic Document must not contradict the internal regulations of a church or religious society, i.e. if we are talking about the Roman Catholic Church, the Basic Document must not contradict the Code of Canon Law. But the claims made in the Basic Document contradict the Code of Canon Law!
What's the point of all this wordsmithing?
Not only that I had to defend myself at the Constitutional Court of the Czech Republic, that I am not a cleric, so that the courts would continue to deal with the third dismissal from employment. (The archbishopric claimed before the courts that as a cleric, I had a service relationship that does not fall under the protection of civil courts).
The purposeful designation of lay people as clergy in the Basic document enabled the Archbishopric of Prague to draw financial resources for these pseudo-clergy persons as clerics in a service relationship, from 2007 until 1 January 2013.
According to the 2006 Catalogue of the Archdiocese of Prague, the archdiocese employed 58 lay people as pastoral workers.
The 2007 Catalogue lists "Persons appointed to serve in the Archdiocese of Prague who are not holders of ordination", in the number of 186!
That is, in 2007 alone, the Archdiocese of Prague pretended 186 lay persons as clergy in a service relationship.
If, in 2007, each of these laity only had a half-time job, which they did not, with an average salary of CZK 7,000, this would amount to over CZK 15.5 million.
Only the Archbishopric of Prague and the Ministry of Culture of the Czech Republic know how many pseudo-clergy, i.e. lay people paid as clergy, were paid in this way until 1/1/2013 and in what amount.
Continuation next Monday, January 22, 2024