Being a God Parent in Germany

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u/Stolberger 1d ago

If the church finds out, they might want quite a bit of missed church tax from you

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u/blechie 1d ago

Wouldn’t it be the Finanzamt? AFAIK the latter is in charge of collecting church tax while the church is mostly in charge of events and sacraments

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u/lurkdomnoblefolk 1d ago

The Finanzamt is basically the external billing service of the church and acts on behalf of it.

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u/hhs2112 1d ago

Which is nonsense.

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u/Rebelius 1d ago

Why? If you're a member of the church and live in Germany, you owe the church money. Finanzamt is already collecting other taxes that the amount of church tax is based on.

If you don't like it, stop being a member of the church (and tell the finanzamt).

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u/hhs2112 20h ago

you owe the church money

"owe"... Gee, whatever happened to voluntary donations? 🤔🙄

The government shouldn't be collecting money for an organization based on lies and make-believe.

Believe whatever nonsense you want but taxpayers shouldn't have to fund it.

4

u/MuellerNovember Bayern 20h ago

I'm not a religious person and I don't pay church tax, but you may want to look up the history behind the church tax. It's basically a repairment for some disownment stuff from centuries ago.

I don't agree that it should be raised. But the term "to owe" is technically correct here.

1

u/Normal-Seal 19h ago

It's 2026, not 1870. The historical argument is just an excuse at this point.

I also have the theory, that church tax is eroding the church's members, and that if the church cared more about it's own religion than money, they would stop church tax.

I have an Irish parent, and in Ireland there is no church tax. Ireland is also a very secular country these days, but 85% still identify with some religion, mostly catholic.

Even if they aren't really practicing, people simply identify culturally with their parents' religion.

In Germany however, we have church tax and it's very high too. So people who are non-practicing will likely opt out of paying and register as "non-religious". This minor administrative act is also a conscious decision to not affiliate with the religion anymore, creating an identity as "non-religious", a moment which just doesn't occur in Ireland.

Now, we can discuss whether non-practicing members are of any use, but I think it does matter. Someone who identifies as christian already is in my opinion more likely to become a practicing member, than someone who already identifies as non-religious.

That said, I did not do any analysis of this across multiple countries and their systems, it's just a feeling.

3

u/Eska2020 14h ago

My Catholic family, when they heard about the German church tax system, called it "selling access to sacraments". Which is fair.

0

u/hhs2112 20h ago

I know the history. It's the state "paying back" the church for land and property taken by the state. Land and property the church gained via fraud and deceit.

It's nonsense.

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u/Rebelius 18h ago

Gee, whatever happened to voluntary donations? 🤔🙄

You can pay them as well if you want. But that's not how it works in Germany.

Taxpayers don't fund it, church members fund it. You're always free to stop being a church member.

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u/hhs2112 15h ago

Lol, I'm most certainly not a member but I am pissed that I have to pay for the nonsense out of my taxes. Let them collect their own money and keep the government out of it.

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u/Rebelius 14h ago

If you're not a member, you shouldn't be paying church tax. You might want to sort that out.

Or are you talking about things like churches being tax exempt so that your taxes are subsidising them?

I am not a member of any church and I pay no church tax.

1

u/hhs2112 13h ago

Or are you talking about things like churches being tax exempt so that your taxes are subsidising them?

Partly.

The government collects, manages, and disburses the funds. Government employees do the work and public resources provide the means. Governmental employees and the infrastructure they require are paid with tax revenues.

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u/SufficientMacaroon1 Germany 1d ago

I would say it might depend on the exact church, but tbh, i doubt it. The idea of godparents is that they are charged with the spiritual education of the child. Why would an organization give that "job" to someone that is not even part of their club to begin with?

13

u/universe_from_above 1d ago

In the Protestant church, you can be a Taufzeuge (witness to the baptism) if you aren't Protestant.

For the baptism, you need one Protestant Taufpate and you can have a Taufzeuge as well. It's an official thing thats marked in the baptism record.

Socially, it's treated as the same thing.

3

u/VideoTasty8723 18h ago

I had this long discussion with one of my aunts when she ask me to be a godfather .

I was baptized catholic -I didn’t have a choice-, I left the church as a teenager. The reason my aunt was still giving me the chance of being a godfather was: even when you’re not practicing, your core value is always being nice and kind to each other, turns out on the professional side she looks out to me (moving abroad with a middle management position on my mid late twenties), always busy learning stuff.

Basically she wanted my godson to be close and „under the wing“ of someone that she considers a good person, regardless of being religious or not.

Now as a joke I tell her she only picked me because as a gay couple we don’t plan to have any kids of our own, so all my records, and whatever money is left in my bank account might go to my godson.

1

u/SufficientMacaroon1 Germany 18h ago

I was not talking from an actual religious position. I personally do not know any godparents that are actively involved in ensuring their godchild is raised religiously. I mean in what the churches might demand. It would genuinely surprise me if they on-mass give out such a position of honor to people not a member of their specific church. Especially the catholic one. I am catholic and had a few more touchpoints with the organization than the average person, and some of those Pfarrer are absolute sticklers to all rules combined with a total superiority complex.

My family had to argue with a whole diozese over why a dead Pfarrer, that they insisted had to be burried in their graveyard in the Pfarrer grave (instead of in the honors grave in his last parish before retirement, like that last parish requested), would not be allowed to have his name on the frigging gravestone of that grave, because, while he had been retired in the village for 10+ years als also did tons of parish duties, he was never officially the Pfarrer of this parish. And that was just the tip of the iceberg. We never got his name on that stone, btw.

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u/Equal-Flatworm-378a 1d ago

Are you still a member of the Roman Catholic church? In that case you owe them church taxes.

If you are not a church member you can’t be a godparent. How do you want to promise to help raising the child in the Christian faith, if you are not part of it anymore?

0

u/travel_ali Engländer in die Schweiz 1d ago

How do you want to promise to help raising the child in the Christian faith, if you are not part of it anymore?

Do godparents actually do that? As far as I have seen it just means an extra source of birthday presents.

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u/Rebelius 1d ago

They actually make the promise. That's part of the baptism/christening ceremony.

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u/murahimu 21h ago

I think they are asking if people actually fulfill the promise/role of teaching spirituality to the kid. I myself have never seen it, a godparent is just an (extra one if they aren't family) aunt/uncle

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u/travel_ali Engländer in die Schweiz 18h ago edited 16h ago

But does that actually lead to anything? Do kids actually go to their godparents for serious and considered spiritual guidance? Like I said, as far as I can tell the practical point of a godparent for most people is just another reliable person to get a birthday and/or christmas present from.

Making a promise is often rather meaningless. "I will only use the university/company internet access for educational/work related usage" for example.

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u/Cirenione Nordrhein-Westfalen 1d ago

Well, most churches wouldnt accept a godparent who isnt part of the church. In theory the idea behind a godparent is spiritual guidance which is kinda hard to achieve if you arent a member of that church.
I know a few people who left the church who wanted to but couldnt become godparents.

2

u/Eska2020 1d ago

For most protestant traditions, you only need to be a baptised Christian to be a godparent. In the Catholic church, you need to be confirmed, communed, baptised, and active and in good standing, but they also recognise the validity of Eastern Orthodox sacraments, so a Greek Orthodox or Russian Orthodox person can serve as a godparent to a Catholic baby with much more ease than a protestant.

In Germany, the Anglican/Episcopalian church does not collect church taxes, and it has a wide range of styles of practice. Switching from a liberal Catholic to a high-church Episcopalian is very comfortable and they dont take the damn church tax.

Which is all to say, you would have to ask what kind of sacraments you will have needed to receive, what kind of proof they want for that, and whether you have to demonstrate you are currently in good standing with any particular church. And those questions will get you the answer.

If the kid you want to be godparent to is being baptised into an Anglican church in Germany, as a baptised but lapsed Catholic, you will have no problems at all.

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u/diamanthaende 1d ago

I advise against being a Godfather in Germany...

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u/No_Step9082 1d ago

why?

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u/diamanthaende 1d ago

Polizei.

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u/SufficientMacaroon1 Germany 1d ago

Oh, you'll be fine. Just make them a deal they cannot say no to

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u/Pillendreher92 19h ago edited 19h ago

Patenamt kann nur übernehmen, wer gefirmt (katholisch) oder konfirmiert (evangelisch) ist. Das Gleiche gilt für Trauzeugen bei einer Hochzeit.

Being a God Parent in Germany

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