The Priest and Money
The Priest and Money
Among the conditions of a priest is that he should not be a lover of money, nor a lover of the greater share, nor greedy for shameful gain.
This is stated in the First Epistle to Timothy (1 Tim 3:3) and in the Epistle to Titus (Titus 1:7). Rather, he should be ascetic and far from luxury, obeying the word of the Lord:
“Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth” (Matt 6:19).
If the Lord said this to the multitudes of believers, it applies to priests all the more, for they are supposed to be an example in every virtue.
And the Scripture teaches us that when the Lord sent His disciples, He said to them:
“Provide neither gold nor silver” (Matt 10:9).
He also said: “Nor copper in your money belts.” Copper currency is the least valuable; in our days it would be called small change. It included the millieme and the half millieme.
The Lord also said to His disciples: “Carry neither a money bag” (Luke 10:4). Thus He assumed complete detachment from money and wealth.
The Lord Christ Himself lived on earth poor.
He owned nothing on earth, He who is the Owner of heaven and earth. Everything that people placed in the box, He would command to be distributed to the poor. When He said to Judas on the day of the Last Supper, “What you do, do quickly,” the disciples thought that He said to him, “Buy what we need for the feast,” or “that he should give something to the poor,” because Judas had the box (John 13:27, 29).
This is what troubled Judas: the principle of the empty box—whatever was put into it was distributed immediately to the poor.
The disciples of the Lord Christ were also poor.
Mark the Evangelist, when he came to Egypt, owned nothing; even his sandal was torn from walking on the road.
When Saints Peter and John passed by the gate of the temple, there sat a lame man asking for alms. He fixed his eyes on them, expecting to receive something from them.
Peter said to him, “Silver and gold I do not have” (Acts 3:6), and continued, “But what I have I give you.” Then he took him by the hand and said, “In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk.” So he leaped up, stood, and walked (Acts 3:6, 8).
Commenting on this story, it was said that a famous philosopher visited St. Peter’s Cathedral with all its wealth and astonishing decorations. He was told, “The time has passed when Peter said, ‘Silver and gold I do not have.’”
The philosopher replied, “Yes, and the time has also passed when Peter said to the lame man, ‘Rise up and walk,’ and he rose.”
In Capernaum, when Peter was asked, “Does your Teacher not pay the two drachmas?” (Matt 17:24), the Lord had nothing to pay with. So He said to Peter, “Go to the sea, cast in a hook, and take the fish that comes up first. And when you have opened its mouth, you will find a stater. Take that and give it to them for Me and you” (Matt 17:27).
The disciples also owned nothing. Thus Saint Paul said, “As poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing all things” (2 Cor 6:10).
How were the apostles poor, when it was said at the beginning of the apostolic era: “All who were possessors of lands or houses sold them, and brought the proceeds of the things that were sold, and laid them at the apostles’ feet” (Acts 4:34–35)?
Yes, this was the place of money—at the apostles’ feet, not in their pockets. What did the apostles do? “And they distributed to each as anyone had need,” so that “nor was there anyone among them who lacked” (Acts 4:35, 34). Yet the apostles remained poor despite all this, and the saying of the Apostle Paul is fulfilled: “As poor, yet making many rich.”
Let the clergy then take a lesson from the apostles in their relationship with money.
It is not permissible for a priest to accumulate money.
Nor is it permissible for him to have an aristocratic appearance.
When the French Revolution took place and seized the wealth of the royal family, princes, nobles, and feudal lords, the Church in France at that time owned one-fifth of the property of the state. When the Communist Revolution took place in Russia, wealth prevailed in the Tsarist regime and in the Church as well. Even the Gospels were bound in gold and precious stones, as were the frames of icons and the crosses. Some of all this still remains displayed in the halls of the Kremlin in Moscow.
The dignity of the priesthood lies in its spirituality, not in its appearance.
In the past, senior clergy used to place golden crosses and icons on their chests, hold golden crosses in their hands, and sometimes wear a golden chain ending with a golden watch. Now all this has gone and passed away.
The wealth of a priest may be a subject of criticism or condemnation by his people, and it also provokes the poor who do not possess their necessary sustenance.
Also, the priest who does not love money does not take money in exchange for his prayers, nor does he sell the holy sacraments for money.
He does not take money during his visits to the homes of believers, because he goes to visit and reassure them regarding their spiritual life, not to take money from them. He goes to them in the manner of a shepherd, not a collector.
Such gathering of money diminishes his pastoral value, reverses the purpose of the visit, and makes him courteous to the rich and neglectful of the poor.
It is not permissible for a priest to take a fee for baptism.
I have issued an order regarding this to all the churches of Cairo years ago. We seek every child in order to baptize him, and I personally, whenever I see a mother carrying an infant, ask her whether she has baptized the child or not. This is because baptism is necessary for the salvation of the child, according to the Lord Christ’s conversation with Nicodemus (John 3:5), and according to the Lord’s saying: “He who believes and is baptized will be saved” (Mark 16:16). Is it right for baptism to become a source of income? God forbid.
O priest father: if someone wishes to give you something when you baptize his child, apologize for accepting it. If he insists, tell him: not on this occasion.
We rejoice in the baptism of children because they become children of God, are joined to the membership of the Church, and begin to enjoy the holy sacraments. But it is not permissible for the joy to be in money given by the family of the baptized child.
If the family of the child wishes to offer something to God in their joy over their child’s baptism—not as a price for his baptism—let it be what they place in the church box, not in the priest’s hand, and not for him personally.
In everything the priest performs of church sacraments and liturgical prayers, let him remember the Lord’s saying to His disciples:
“Freely you have received, freely give” (Matt 10:8).
The church sacraments are too great to be valued by money. They are necessary for all, and we must offer them to everyone, each according to his need. The priest is a servant of the sacraments; we remember this in baptism as well as in the rest of the sacraments.
Likewise, in visiting the sick, it is not permissible for the priest to take money.
He visits the sick out of love for God, considering him as one of His children. He wishes to reassure him and pray for him so that God may grant him health and healing. Money corrupts the character and purpose of the visit, whether the visit is in the hospital, or the priest prays the prayer of the anointing of the sick at home, or even offers a short prayer with anointing by oil.
Rather, the priest may visit the sick person, care for him, and offer him a gift—whether a spiritual gift such as an Agpeya or a cross, or a social gift such as a bouquet of flowers expressing his feelings, or a gift of sweets to be distributed to the visitors of the sick person from his acquaintances and friends.
Thus the priest becomes accustomed to giving, according to the Lord’s saying:
“It is more blessed to give than to receive” (Acts 20:35).
He is the father who shares with his children in their problems and needs.
He may know that the illness has cost this son or his family money beyond their ability, so he contributes with them in an appropriate way to help with treatment expenses.
Another point I wish to mention concerns funerals.
The family of the deceased needs someone to console them, not someone to take from them. Often death is preceded by an illness that has exhausted all they have, and perhaps they have incurred debts because of it. Added to this are the costs of the coffin, the box, and burial. If the priesthood burdens them with additional financial demands, this becomes beyond their capacity, or as the proverb says: “death and the ruin of homes.”
I admire a friend who was a colleague with me in service before monasticism. He was very sensitive to these matters. The father of a friend of ours in Sunday School passed away. All those who went to offer condolences limited themselves to a silent sitting, then the phrase “May your life remain,” and then they left. But he did not leave like this. He took the colleague, the son of the deceased, aside and handed him an envelope, saying: “I know how much these events cost, and I have experienced them myself. Consider me a brother who shares with you what you are going through.”
There are excuses presented by some priest fathers — though not all of them, of course —regarding the issue of collecting money, including:
- He does not collect for himself, but for his family and children. What will they do after him? Therefore he must collect enough for them, whether for housing, living needs, school expenses, or preparing daughters for marriage.
- The Scripture says: “The laborer is worthy of his wages” (Luke 10:7).
- The Scripture also says: “Those who minister at the altar partake of the altar,” and “Those who preach the gospel should live from the gospel” (1 Cor 9:13–14).
- It is assumed that we accustom people to give in the Church, because it is a divine commandment to pay tithes, firstfruits, and vows, and as children of the Church they should care for all its needs.
There are other reasons besides these that some present.
And we hope that time will allow us to discuss them all, God willing.
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