In the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

, a Mass stipend is a donation given by the

laity In religious organizations, the laity () consists of all members who are not part of the clergy, usually including any non-ordained members of religious orders, e.g. a nun or a lay brother. In both religious and wider secular usage, a layperson ...

to a

priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particu ...

for praying a

Mass Mass is an intrinsic property of a body. It was traditionally believed to be related to the quantity of matter in a physical body, until the discovery of the atom and particle physics. It was found that different atoms and different elementar ...

. Despite the name, it is considered as a gift or offering () freely given rather than a payment () as such. This is usually a small amount of money determined at the discretion of the family, community or individual in question, and may vary depending on the occasion and number of attendees. As it is considered

simony Simony () is the act of selling church offices and roles or sacred things. It is named after Simon Magus, who is described in the Acts of the Apostles as having offered two disciples of Jesus payment in exchange for their empowering him to imp ...

for priests to request payment for a sacrament, the donors decide upon the form and amount of stipend, and are received as gifts.

References

Mass in the Catholic Church Catholic Church and finance Canon law of property {{RC-stub

See also

References