TAWOMG - Refusing to visit Burgos' Cathedral

Dear Friends,

Last weekend I drove from Barcelona to Portugal. I left on Saturday afternoon and stopped over in Burgos. On Sunday morning I wanted to visit the city, specially its famous cathedral, where I hadn't been for many years. To my big surprise, visitors to the cathedral were charged a 5,00 € ticket just to get in. When I complained, saying that it was the first time that I heard that the Church charged an entrance fee to God's House, I was informed that if I wanted to pray or attend the Mass, I could go through the back door and it was for free. Indeed it was, but then those that go this way get into a very restricted, backside part of the temple. From there you can see nothing of its beauty.

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In Spain, every taxpayer, when filling the tax return, has to opt whether he wants that 0,7% of his taxes goes to the Catholic Church or not. Only the Roman Church is financed this way. Those that decide not to favour the Church do not get their money back. Although it seems reasonable, this is a highly flawed system: first, because it does discriminate against other faiths; second because the Church argues that they need more money than the taxpayers decide it should receive. Every single government, from left or right, has so far overruled the taxpayers' decision and granted more money to the Church than it would otherwise normally be entitled to.

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I understand that the maintenance of monuments like Burgos’s Cathedral does cost money. I also see that there is a business case in charging visitors an entrance fee. However, it did shock me. Other temples in other places have more subtle ways to ask visitors to contribute to their running costs: they sell candles, charge a fee to climb the towers, or visit the caves, organise guided tours and so on. An entrance fee to come inside a church sounds almost like a heresy. On top of it, the Catholic Church already gets a lot more money than we, Spanish taxpayers, would like them to, and they use it in a way that many disagree.

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Having all this in mind, I decided not to visit Burgos’ Cathedral. I know my decision made no difference and was not noticed. Nevertheless, I was not willing to help finance an organisation that, in Spain, many times acts against my values and beliefs. More important, I was not willing to support the idea that common people should pay to be allowed into a temple, whatever the faith.

Wish you a nice week.

Maurício