The Propagation of the Faith collection supports Catholic missionaries and missions, provided for the needs of Catholic worship and instruction and similar works as well as many social welfare projects initiated or maintained by missionaries. Sometimes, diocesan collections are also taken to provide for the maintenance of seminaries and other diocesan institutions such as hospitals and homes for the sick and aged. There are also provisions made in most places for the appeals of different religious orders who support their missions to a large extent independently of the general funds of the Church. Besides voluntary collections, parishes and dioceses receive help in the form of wages paid to the Bishop, priests, Religious and other personnel. These often have to be drawn from the parish or diocesan funds which in turn depend to a great extent on the free-will offerings of the faithful made at the offertory of the Sunday Mass. School salaries are now paid mostly from a combination of parish funds and tuition payments of students.
Stipends are offerings made at the time of celebrating the sacraments.
They are not payment for the sacraments but an act of religious alms given on such occasions. The use of such stipends is regulated so that except in the case of Mass intentions, other stipends go to the parish fund. In the case of Mass intentions, the stipend goes to the priest as part of his support. Finally, some revenues come from investments, a source of wonder, it would appear, to many. But actually, in today's world where sound investment can make the charitable dollar go so much farther in the long run, there should be no cause for scandal.