Roman Catholic Priests self employed?

[needawin]

Please can anyone advise whether Roman Catholic priests are self employed or are they regarded as employees of the church with the local Bishop being their registered employer. I am specifically referring to the R.C. Church in Ireland.

[bazwillrun]

I thought their contract was with god ?! :-)

[Duncer]

I'd imagine they are employed by the church as that is where their salary/stipend will come from.

[douglas9401]

As far as I recall they rely on their parishoners for all things that keep body and soul together.

[hc4361]

This has been argued in the courts a lot over the past few years.
The Catholic Church maintains that priests are self employed, pay self employed tax and that priesthood is a state of life, not a job.
If this is the case then the Church cannot be liable for the priests.

However, courts in the UK, America and elsewhere have ruled that the Church is vicariously liable for any wrongdoing by priests.

[dave1948]

Can't see what wrongdoing has to do with this question.

In practical terms most priests must be classed as self-employed as they receive no salary from the church as such so they cannnot be classed as "employed"

As for "wrongdoing" it is as prevalent in most jobs as it is in priests !

[CailinDeas]

I believe they receive a minimum salary from the Diocese. The remainder of earnings come from offerings from parishioners.

[needawin]

Thank you all.