The Catholic Church in the Benin City Ecclesiastical Province has announced new approved amounts for Mass stipends and stole fees, fixing the offering for booking a Mass at ₦500.
The decision is contained in a notification signed by the Archbishop of Benin City and Metropolitan of the Province, Most Rev. Augustine Obiora Akubeze, and addressed to all dioceses, parishes, and priests within the province.
Accordingly, stole fees are also harmonized across the province, with Baptism, Marriage, and Confirmation each fixed at ₦1,000, while funerals remain exempt from any fees.
Archbishop Akubeze emphasized that priests must show compassion in dealing with the bereaved, stressing that no form of extortion should be tolerated at funerals. He further reminded priests that no one should be denied the sacraments on account of genuine inability to pay the prescribed offerings.
While reiterating that these amounts are the reasonable offerings agreed upon, the Archbishop cautioned that the sacraments remain spiritual gifts and not commodities for sale.
“Every semblance of simony must be avoided,” he noted, adding that the faithful are nonetheless encouraged to be generous when they have the means.
The review of Mass stipends and stole fees was reached after extensive deliberations at the recent meeting of bishops of the Benin Ecclesiastical Province, which comprises dioceses under the Benin City Metropolitan See.
The new rates take immediate effect across all parishes in the province.
