PLN 275.71 million – this is how much money will be allocated to the Church Fund next year, according to the provisions of the budget act for 2025. This is a record sum, almost PLN 20 million more than this year, when PLN 257 million was secured for this purpose. Since 2015, budget expenditure on the Church Fund has more than doubled (from PLN 128 million). 95 percent of this amount are contributions to social insurance for the clergy.
Donald Tusk promised to liquidate the Church Fund. Instead, the church is getting more and more
“16. We will liquidate the Church Fund” – this is one of 100 specifics party led by Donald Tusk, i.e. commitments electoralwhich the Civic Coalition presented before last year's parliamentary elections.
In August 2024, Donald Tusk was no longer so principled about the liquidation of the Church Fund and spoke rather about its reform, without saying anything about getting rid of this solution – After all, these billions that go to various Churches, through various channels, are not the Church Fund. (…) This is about a solution that will first and foremost eliminate this very often pathological financing and financial empires, because Churches are not there to do this, and one priest director in particular, is not there to accumulate gigantic capital and run big businesses – said the head of government.
– There are no longer these wide open channels for the flow of millions and hundreds of millions of zlotys to businesses, and not to churches de facto – added Tusk. – Such institutions as the one run by Father Tadeusz Rydzykwill of course also be subject to control where public ones have gone money – he said.
In the updated 100 specifics, the liquidation of the Church Fund is marked as “in progress”. The description reads that “The Ministry of Family, Labor and Social Policy is conducting analytical work on changing the model of regulation of social insurance for clergy. Assumptions are being prepared for solutions that are to lead to transferring the burden of financing social insurance contributions for clergy from the Church Fund to diocesan, monastic institutions or the clergy themselves, while maintaining full guarantees of the constitutional right to social security for clergy. An inter-ministerial team has been appointed, which has begun work on changing the system of financing the Church Fund and other sources of financing from public funds of churches, including financing retirement and disability benefits for clergy”.
Changes in the Church Fund
In August, the government announced changes to the Church Fund. Donald Tusk reminded that the obligation to maintain retirement and pension benefits for priests, monks and nuns is already regulated by law. – This is the reason why we will discuss the tax deduction model, various variants, so that the faithful decide whether and to what extent they want to finance their churches – he added. prime minister.
Tusk is working on these changes with Deputy Prime Minister Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz. This one said in Februarythat when it comes to changes in the Church Fund, “the concept of a tax deduction has appeared and there has been a concept related exclusively to social security, retirement security”. The solution regarding the Church Fund is to be presented at the September session of the Sejm.
The Church Fund was established in 1950 as a form of compensation for the Church for the property taken over by the state. real estate.