RELIGIOUS PROTECTION FUND "PARTIALLY DIVERTED" FOR FIRST TIME
Each year since the 1780's the Imperial Family have paid a sum of money to any faith with an estimate of 10% or more of the population in order to help ensure access to places of worship. This year the Empress Serena has announced that the portion allocated to the Catholic Church will not be given and instead will be given directly to "Street Organisations that help the poor." Making the announcement the Empress said, "The Catholic Church has vast sums of financial reserves, it will not miss the $15million that we would have given them. That money instead will be given directly to organisations and charities that work directly with the homeless and poor. Catholics across the Empire in many ways have two allegiances, first to the crown and also to the Pope via their faith. I am confident that $15million is a drop in the ocean for the Catholic Church especially if we glance back just a relatively short period of time when they were giving nations vast sums to fund projects there. Those of the Catholic faith can rest easy knowing that this years Religious Protection Fund payment will be distributed with their faiths own ethos in mind and I intend, wherever possible, that the charities being given the money be ones connected to the Church."
Meanwhile the $15million given to the Bene Gesserit faith will continue to be paid. "Since the faithful of that religion outed themselves we have seen their numbers swell. At present there are just over 8million Bene Gesserit in Aosta and I suspect the number could be rather higher. We have seen that community engage massively with educational based projects. One of the favourites I have heard of is travelling libraries visiting remote rural areas to allow children to borrow books and I've even seen adult literacy classes being run. Our nations literacy rate of 97% is good but not perfect and anyone helping in that regard I am more than happy to celebrate."
The announcement was meet with mixed reactions. One Catholic we spoke to in Ovado said, "The money didn't go far if we're being honest, a few coats of paint, some new upholstery in Churches here and there. The Empress is right to say that the Church won't miss the money and if it helps the homeless I'm sure Jesus would approve." Meanwhile some criticised the fact that one faith recieved the payment and not the other. "The Bene Gesserit faith has some fat cat rich benefactors around the world. I am sure the Fremen family could have easily found $15million to give to their group. It seems unfair to deny Catholics the same support as the Bene Gesserit when Empress Serena is supposed to be everyone's Empress."
The Empress has however reassured members of the Catholic faith that funding that goes into faith based schools is still secure saying, "The Empire will ensure all children aged between 4-18 are guaranteed a quality education that as far as possible is of their choice. The Catholic schools in the Empire are excellent facilitators of our nations curriculum and so long as parents want their children to attend them I will ensure that they have the tools and resources to do their job. It is even my hope that in the coming months we may be able to divert more money towards are educational systems and ensure every Aostan leaves school with a world class education that gives them opportunities to better not just their own lives but the fortunes of the Empire."
Funding for the Folk Faith Temples will be untouched. Currently 74% of Aostans describe themselves as members of that faith and 62% of those describe themselves as having "Strong" faith. Empress Serena is due to attend this coming weekends Ceremony of Decline at the coastal town of Excenex.