Italian bishops increase aid to dioceses hit hard by COVID-19

ROME - The Italian episcopal conference distributed another 10 million euros ($ 11,2 million) to the dioceses of northern Italy most affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The money will be used for emergency aid to people and families in financial difficulty, to support organizations and institutions that are working to combat the pandemic and its effects and to help parishes and other ecclesial entities in difficulty, said a statement from the episcopal conference.

The funds were distributed in early June and are to be used by the end of the year, the note says. A detailed report on how the funds were spent must be submitted to the episcopal conference by February 28, 2021.

The further distribution of funds to dioceses in what the Italian government had called "red or orange areas" for their high levels of infections, hospitalizations and COVID-19 deaths brought total emergency aid provided by the bishops' conference to nearly $ 267 million.

The money comes from an emergency fund established using part of the proceeds that the episcopal conference collects every year from citizens' tax designations. When paying government income taxes, citizens can designate that 0,8 percent - or 8 cents for every 10 euros - go to a government social assistance program, the Catholic Church or one of the other 10 religious organizations. .

While over half of Italian taxpayers make no choice, of those who do, almost 80% choose the Catholic Church. For 2019, the episcopal conference has received over 1,13 billion euros ($ 1,27 billion) from the tax regime. The money is used to pay the salaries of priests and other pastoral workers, support charity projects in Italy and around the world, manage seminars and schools and build new churches.

At the beginning of the pandemic, the episcopal conference distributed 200 million euros (about 225 million dollars) in emergency aid, with the majority destined for the country's 226 dioceses. The conference also donated over $ 562.000 to the national food bank foundation, over $ 10 million to hospitals and Catholic schools in the world's poorest countries, and over $ 9,4 million to 12 Italian hospitals that ran most of the COVID patients.