Name: Priests eligible for JobKeeper asked to donate the extra allowance to their Catholic diocese - ABC News
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Priests eligible for JobKeeper asked to donate the extra allowance to their Catholic diocese - ABC News

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ShareThe Catholic Church has asked some priests receiving JobKeeper to donate almost half of the payment back to the organisation.ABC Investigations has obtained letters sent to priests about the taxpayer-funded payment which ask them to hand back some of the money to help make up for a plunge in donations from parishioners.The letters, sent to clergy in the Diocese of Parramatta in Western Sydney, say an "amount between $500 and $700 per fortnight is recommended" to "assist with future payments and the balance sheet"."The closure of churches and the stopping of public masses has had a drastic effect on not only our parish communities, but also the pastoral revenue collection," another letter reads.It is unclear whether the letters were sent to all clergy in the diocese, or only those receiving JobKeeper payments.One senior Catholic Church employee, who asked to remain anonymous out of fear of retribution, described the church's request to the clergy as "immoral"."One of the fundamental principles of the church, and the priests who commit to joining it, is to help the poor," the employee said."For the church to use these funds in this way, while so many others in their community are excluded from JobKeeper or are seriously struggling financially at the moment, is simply shocking."The Diocese of Paramatta has declined to comment and did not respond to questions. The Australian Catholics Bishops Conference — which represents the heads of Australia's Catholic dioceses — did not respond to questions about how many priests and other clergy are currently receiving JobKeeper.The Archdiocese of Sydney confirmed it had signed up for JobKeeper, but did not say how many of its 516 priests were receiving the payment.It did not say whether any had been asked to donate any of that payment back, stating instead that the diocese had not received any "increased monetary payment"."The difference between the allowance and stipend goes towards covering the costs of their housing and living expenses during this period of no revenue given no collections are taking place and continue not to take place," it said in a statement.RMIT University employment law specialist Anthony Forsyth said the JobKeeper rules made it illegal for employers to skim money off staff payments to boost revenue, however a request for voluntary donation was not explicitly prohibited."It's clearly totally contrary to the spirit of the scheme," Professor Forsyth said."A tightening of the rules, not just these priests, but for employees generally, would be very welcome."The Fair Work Ombudsman, which administers the JobKeeper rules, said in a statement that it was only illegal for employers to force employees to pay money back to their employer — a practice sometimes known as a "cashback".There is no sign in the letters that the church explicitly sought to force priests to make the donations.Treasurer Josh Frydenberg declined to do an interview but in a statement said: "It is not the Government's place to dictate or direct Australians on how to spend their own wage."The ABC has confirmed that 41 priests in the Diocese of Parramatta are currently receiving JobKeeper. They saw their income almost double to $3,000 a month from their regular monthly stipend of $1,590."Some priests have described this as a windfall," the anonymous Catholic Church employee said."They already get the housing, food and utilities paid for by the church. This is $3,000 per month of pure pocket money."The diocese has also recognised the huge income increase, telling priests the scheme would create a big disparity in payments between those getting JobKeeper and those who are ineligible.It is unclear why some priests in the diocese are ineligible for JobKeeper, but it could be because the scheme excludes many workers who are not Australian citizens or permanent residents."This creates a two-tier remuneration system which has always been anathema to the spirit of cooperation in the diocese," one of the letters sent to the priests in the Diocese of Parramatta said."This seems unfair and inequitable, especially in light of the principle of equal remuneration established."The diocese initially tried to resolve the disparity by asking priests on JobKeeper to "save" half of their payment as "an advance of the "remuneration you would receive once the JobKeeper payment is concluded"."Clergy eligible for the JobKeeper payment … will then forgo remuneration for the period from October 2020 to March 2021, having saved from the remuneration 'overpay' received over the previous period.""This will also enable to [sic] clergy remuneration and retirement plan to build up its cash reserves, which will have been severely depleted by the end of September."However, the diocese later backed down on the request, saying it was "not in the spirit" of the JobKeeper scheme."JobKeeper was established by the Government to enable the link between employer and employee to be retained … a program which had no strings attached, and employers were to acknowledge the integrity and the aim of the program," the follow-up letter reads."Reflecting on the intention of the JobKeeper payment," the letter says, the diocese "has reconsidered its position [regarding] remuneration".In the same letter, the diocese asks priests to instead donate part of the payment back to the church.Catholic priests, as well as other religious practitioners, only became eligible for JobKeeper following an amendment to the scheme's rules in early May.In a letter to clergy and parishioners published in the Catholic Weekly last month, the Archbishop of Sydney, Anthony Fisher, made clear that his archdiocese was involved with lobbying the Government to make the change."We are grateful that through the hard work of our Chancery staff, the Federal Government was persuaded to extend the JobKeeper allowance to clergy and employees in parishes and the archdiocese," Archbishop Fisher wrote in a letter to clergy and parishioners published in Catholic Weekly last month.In a separate statement the ABC, the Archdiocese of Sydney wrote: "Along with a number of other religious groups, the church made representations to the Government to address this, and the program was extended to cover religious ministers."Professor Forsyth said without the amendment, priests and other ministers of religion would be excluded from JobKeeper because they were not technically employees.So far, more than a million short-term casual workers, university employees and migrant workers have been excluded from JobKeeper. Professor Forsyth said they had a right to be upset about the Government's decision."I think it's quite unfair. We're talking about a very rich organisation, in the case of the Catholic Church, that could probably afford in other ways to look after its people."The Diocese of Parramatta said it declined to comment because it had "serious concerns about the ABC's ability to cover this issue fairly"."As has been pointed out by many commentators, the ABC has a clear record of instrumentalising stories about the Catholic Church and construing them in the most critical and negative way possible."16 Jun 202016 Jun 2020Tue 16 Jun 2020 at 7:09pm, 16 Jun 202016 Jun 2020Tue 16 Jun 2020 at 10:15pmMore on:

ShareThe Catholic Church has asked some priests receiving JobKeeper to donate almost half of the payment back to the organisation.ABC Investigations has obtained letters sent to priests about the taxpayer-funded payment which ask them to hand back some of the money to help make up for a plunge in donations from parishioners.The letters, sent to clergy in the Diocese of Parramatta in Western Sydney, say an "amount between $500 and $700 per fortnight is recommended" to "assist with future payments and the balance sheet"."The closure of churches and the stopping of public masses has had a...

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Priests eligible for JobKeeper asked to donate the extra allowance to their Catholic diocese - ABC News

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