Help hard-up French churches by adopting a Priest
Churches in Normandy, France are struggling with a crisis in finances as church-goers dwindle in number, leading to low donations that are supposed to sustain priests and staff.
But the six dioceses have come up with an innovative solution: a funny and hip new campaign that promises to let out the ‘divine products’ of their priests for a fee.
Adopte un Curé is an online campaign that seeks people aged 18–40 to adopt a priest in exchange of donations in various amounts:
The campaign was launched by six dioceses in Normandy and parodies the French dating site Adopteunmec.com (Adopt a Guy).
Deputy Bishop of Calvados Xavier Signargout said ‘The dioceses wanted to rejuvenate the image of the annual parish collection. The humour allowed us to mention the collection in an offbeat way.’
Churches in the Calvados department in Lower Normandy usually raise €2m to support its 110 priests and 70 secular staff. However, their prospects are dwindling yearly as their counterparts in Rouen region in Upper Normandy do by losing 500 to 700 donors per year.