It does not seem that the adoption of the euro has badly affected church collections with parish priests contacted yesterday reporting that the faithful were more or less giving the same amounts as before.

Some of the parish priests, members of the clergy and church helpers contacted by The Times said they had explicitly told people during Sunday Mass that the value of the euro cent was significantly less than the old Maltese cent and most parishioners seem to have got the message.

"Some people are still donating Maltese coins during Mass but most donations are now in euro. I think those who used to give 10c are now giving €0.20 or €0.25 so, in the end, it's basically the same," one of the parish priests said.

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