There Are Growing Calls to Finally Tax the Catholic Church
A mayor in Canada wants to tax the Catholic Church as a result of its role in Canada’s assimilative residential school system—a role currently in the spotlight as more unmarked gravesites at former Catholic-run residential schools are confirmed across the country.
“Because of the gruesome past and terrifying future we are waiting to see... Because (the Catholic Church is) refusing to apologize, I want to remove their tax exemption,” Bell told CTV News. “I’m hoping for other politicians and other cities to do the exact same thing.”
Calls are mounting for the Catholic Church to be taxed or to hand over money to help Indigenous communities heal after the federal government and churches spent more than a century forcibly assimilating 150,000 First Nations, Métis, and Inuit children in residential schools across Canada and the U.S.
The Roman Catholic Church hasn’t disclosed its net worth. But there’s no doubt it is one of the richest institutions on the planet, considering it’s one of the largest landowners in the world, and enjoys significant investments, and coffers full of gold and priceless original art. The Vatican, which is just a fraction of the Church, is worth $4 billion.
