The new investment policy announced by Pope Francis (“Strict new protocols for Vatican finances”, 30 July) is welcome, but the Vatican is still ignoring the most obvious problem.

Lay people are currently being pressed to take more active roles within the Church – but without any mention of pay. Many ordinary Catholics are under huge financial stress at the moment. People who would love to serve the Church with their talents cannot afford to do so, when it is a choice between volunteering and paying the gas bill. Yet, while the Catholic Church in England and Wales may be struggling financially, the Church globally is very far from poor.

The current Catholic system of funding each parish mainly by what is taken in collections during Mass is a system that is broken. Some vibrant parishes (like mine) struggle to survive, simply because they’re in a poor neighbourhood, while quieter parishes in smarter areas, a few miles away, have plenty of funds.