Catholic Church in Spain proposes 60 routes to discover its charitable action

The Spanish Episcopal Conference (CEE) has launched 60 routes in different dioceses to publicize the charitable and social work of the Church. This initiative is possible, in part, thanks to voluntary contributions through the income statement.

The initiative, baptized as “Line 105 Xtantos”, arises from the campaign carried out last year, in which a group of people toured several dioceses by bus. As a result, some decided to collaborate with the Catholic Church marking box 105 in their declaration of the rent of natural persons (IRPF).

By marking this option, known as “The Equis of the Catholic Church”, Spanish taxpayers can allocate 0.7% of the payment of their Church taxes, according to the Agreement signed in 2006 between the Kingdom of Spain and the Holy See.

With this initiative, the Spanish bishops launch their annual “Xtantos” campaign, in force since 2007 and developed in the months prior to completing the payment of these taxes.

Those who want to participate in the experience must register in linea105xtantos.es before April 10. The dioceses will contact the candidates and select 15 participants per route. The tours, by bus or foot according to the possibilities, will be held between April and June.

This format has already been tested in the Archdiocese of Valladolid, where a hundred candidates were registered. The majority recognized that it did not mark box 105 of the income statement due to lack of training, ignorance about the destiny of money or for not believing in God.

Of the 15 people who lived the experience, 13 did not mark before starting the experience of the Catholic Church’s box in the IRPF and, at the end, 10 of them made the decision to do so this year for the first time.

CEE will invest in the realization of this campaign three million euros (0.78% of what was collected last year).

“More of the people who go to Mass every Sunday”

The Bishop of Tarazona, Mons. Vicente Rebollo, responsible for the Secretariat for the maintenance of the Church of the EEC, has defined this campaign with two words: “gratitude and hope.” Gratitude, for the more than 9 million Spaniards who support the Church through this initiative. And hope, because thanks to its collaboration, “the Church will continue to weaving ties and leading the light of the Gospel to the whole society.”

For the prelate, this help allows “the task of the Church to be of great social relevance”, which has been reflected very visible, added, in the eastern region of the country whipped by the storm last October.

To questions from journalists, Mons. Rebollo valued that those who support the Catholic Church in this way “are much more of the people who go to Mass every Sunday.” In his opinion, this reflects an “identification that goes beyond religious confession and recognizes the work done by the Church.”

According to the prelate, this support also denotes a perception of the Catholic Church as “an institution that is worth trusting.” In this sense, he emphasized that the money received multiplies “by this capacity of administration, by that task of volunteers, for that closeness so attached to reality.”

For his part, the director of the Secretariat, José María Albalad, said that this campaign “reinforces the commitment of an open -door church that goes out to meet all people, especially those who are further or who need it most.”

The premise that underlies this initiative, he added, is that “the Church is always close to you, although you do not always see it.”