Pray-wave: Paris church offers new way to donate

Contactless card payment system has been added as new way to donate. Photo / 123RF

A Paris church has introduced a contactless card payment system to collect Sunday Mass donations.

Five new wicker baskets, equipped with a smartphone and contactless payment terminal, will now be passed round the pews of Saint-Francois de Molitor during mass. While churchgoers will still be able to toss money into traditional baskets rattling with coins, donors will no longer need to carry cash.

The church's collections have stagnated in recent years, averaging at €3 ($5) per donation, but the diocese insists that the development is not about making money.

Father Didier Duverne, the parish priest, said: "The experiment is not to increase the amount of donations but to anticipate the future, when people don't carry money anymore, even for their baguette," he said. "It amuses me, it's fun. Our parishioners are receptive of the novelty."

The hi-tech baskets, which have a traditional appearance, give people the option to donate €2, €3, €5 or €10.

The city's diocese suggests that donations make up 79 per cent of the church's resources and are spent on upkeep costs such as heating and electricity.

Christophe Rousselot, the director of financial resources development in the diocese of Paris, said "the church has no reason not to get with the times".

The contactless payment baskets are not the first attempt to introduce technology to France's Catholic churches. A smartphone app called La Quete, which translates as The Collection, was introduced in 2016 and has since been used in more than 2000 parishes across 28 dioceses in France.

About 4000 donations have been made across eight Paris parishes where the app has been tested.