Priests stopped from operating unlicensed religious stores

DAGUPAN CITY—Lingayen-Dagupan Archbishop Socrates Villegas on Tuesday stopped priests under his diocese from operating religious stores which have no permit or are not registered with the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR).

In a circular dated Jan. 12, Villegas also observed that some of the commodities sold in parish stores no longer promote religious devotion and catechesis (the act of imparting Catholic dogma).

“This practice has left a mistaken impression among the Catholic faithful that the Church is engaging in business and commerce beyond its spiritual mission,” he said.

VILLEGAS

He said the BIR had sent “some alarming signals about imposing taxes on such religious stores.”

“Unless properly guided by our legal counsel, the maintenance of religious stores might become an entry point for the BIR to even examine the other collections and fund sources of the Catholic Church. The Church stands at risk as secularism gains ground. We choose the path of pastoral prudence,” Villegas said.

The diocese, which is one of Pangasinan province’s three dioceses, has 33 parishes under its five vicariates. Villegas said the matter of parishes operating stores for religious books and devotional articles was discussed during the diocese’s regular clergy meeting on Jan. 8.

“In consideration of the foregoing, it was decided during the clergy meeting that in the Archdiocese of Lingayen-Dagupan, we will not open new religious stores and close the ones that are in existence, unless such stores have submitted their records to the BIR and have gained business licenses from the government as required by law,” Villegas said.

“This policy on religious stores will also enhance our desire to rid the parish operations of any semblance of business and commerce. It is a hard climb but we must be wise as serpents and innocent as doves,” he said.

On Monday, Villegas also issued a circular stopping parishes from charging fixed rates for certificates issued by the parish offices, such as baptismal, confirmation and marriage certificates. In exchange, he urged the parishioners “to support the parish apostolate on a regular basis by donating generously to the parish regardless of parish services they may need.”

“This is a proof of our maturity in the faith and devotion to our mother Church. We must be a community that gives because we love the Church,” he said. “We dream of a Church renewed, truly close to the people and responsive to the needs of the flock.”