From Mr G J Gribben SIR – Brother John Barry (Letters, Oct 28) offers priests on a small stipend the consolation of John the Baptist’s advice to soldiers: “Be content with your stipend.” But isn’t there also something in the Bible about the labourer being worthy of his hire? And surely implicit in that statement is that the hire paid must be sufficient for the labourer’s needs. Presumably John the Baptist knew his soldiers had enough for their particular needs.
While some priests might be described as “temple guards”, the nearest equivalent is that of army chaplain, which probably carries the minimum rank of captain.
How do the pay and allowances for that rank compare to the “small stipend” on which some priests are expected to survive?
Yours faithfully, G J GRIBBEN Hull, Yorks