Poor-Rich Churches
writer/director   Niko Remus / Gisela Keuerleber
camera Jörg Adams / Rüdiger Spott
sound Geza Demeter / Csaba Kulscar
editor   Stefan Schneider
length   45 min
format Video
broadcasted 1998 ARD
synopsis
The Catholic church in Germany made headlines during the abortion debate and planned counseling for a pregnancy termination. Before that, it was the cost-cutting measures for kindergartens. The German Protestant church is also cutting back in that area.

Poor Rich Churches is a film which examines the financial status of the two main churches in Germany. Church taxes still account for some eight billion dollars in revenues. And there are other sources of income that are not so transparent. How many people know in Germany that every man, woman and child, regardless of whether they are church members or not, help with the financing church affairs? Educational facilities, church meetings, salaries for bishops and pastors and much more are subsidized by the German states from general tax monies. Is this status of the churches still in keeping with the times? What services do the churches perform in our modern societies and what do people expect from them?
The example of a priest from Cologne illustrates a new path: He is right in the midst of social problem zones.
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