French bishops launch fundraising campaign as number of Catholics declines
January 03, 2018
As France’s Catholic population declines, the French bishops’ conference has launched a fundraising campaign using radio, social media, and advertising inserts.
The campaign will help fund the salaries of 12,000 active priests and 11,000 lay employees.
“You have 105 reasons to give to the Catholic Church,” the campaign emphasizes. There are 105 dioceses in France.
53.8% of France’s people were Catholic in 2016—down from 87% in 1972 and 65% in 2010. The number of persons donating to the Church fell to 1,128,000 in 2016, a decline of 40,000 from the previous year; however, total donations grew by 1.1% to 254 million euros ($305 million).
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Posted by: dover beachcomber -
Jan. 14, 2018 1:17 AM ET USA
Too bad that media campaign isn't aimed directly at challenging secular society with the Gospel (the real thing, not the social-justice-NGO version). Yes, it's important to pay the salaries of clergy and religious. But what about arresting and reversing the decline in numbers of faithful Catholics? What about directly saving souls?
