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Catholic World News News Feature

British nuns could lose charitable status September 07, 2004

Nuns in Britain could lose their charitable status under the new Charities Bill which is expected to be introduced into Parliament in November.

For centuries, it has been presumed that the work of religious sisters is of "public benefit" but under the new bill, their work might not be so easily defined.

Groups that are granted charitable status are exempt from the majority of British taxes, and money that is donated by well-wishers can attract a tax refund under the government's Gift Aid plan.

The new Charities Bill could put an end to this status. And with many religious communities already facing growing financial difficulties as fewer and fewer younger sisters are able to support a growing number of elderly nuns, the financial implications could be enormous.

Sister Raymunda Jordon, a Dominican in north London and the general secretary of the Conference of Religious in England and Wales, told the Daily Telegraph that there are seven sisters in her community who are all over 60-- one is 87. Although they have two younger women currently in novitiate, their earning power-- in teaching or prison ministry-- is unlikely to be enough to support the older sisters as they retire.

Sister Raymunda said that they are doing "all sorts of work at a local level, something even the Government has recognized."

Sister Anne Thompson, of the Daughters of Jesus, warned last month that the test of "public benefit" could prove a subjective one.

She said, "Who can measure the 'added value' to the economy by the additional years of contentment found through the patient daily mutual effort at respect, companionship, and tolerance lived out in the community?"

She continued, "How is the alleviation of loneliness, the comfort of panic or distress, the restoration of hope and the injection of humor into lives made dull and even intolerable by bereavement or isolation to be estimated?"

Sister Raymunda believes that nuns "should be accountable like everyone else" and "will always be active for the public benefit." She added, "People will always need our prayers and just someone to talk to."

But praying for the world might not be sufficient evidence of the "public benefit" needed to avoid a huge tax bill.