German Bishops and the Church Tax

German bishops want to excommunicate any Catholics who opt out of the Church tax. Their reasoning is that those who refuse to pay the tax are opting out of membership in the church also. Many Catholics disagree. Notice how much the “Sacraments” are talked about in this issue. Critics rightly term the “Church of the Sacraments” as problematic. As if the very reception makes you a disciple rather than the imitation of Christ’s commands. Catholics know the sacraments more than they know the beatitudes which spell out the essential gospel. Somehow the sacraments can be reconciled with war and anger while the beatitudes not so easily. Indian and African priests come here on the money train to administer the sacraments while leaving the world’s poorest in their own country. Why can’t the Mafia be buried in the church when the hierarchy see the sacraments more as matter and form rather than discipleship.