Prime Minister Donald Tusk It announced late last year that the government had formed an inter-ministerial team to overhaul the church fund funding system, including rules for funding clergy pensions and retirement benefits. Poland's 2050 representative Agnieszka Buczynska will be in this team.
– There is no doubt, and here I am talking to everyone who does not yet know Poland 2050 – the state and the church have their place. This was the first program launched under the auspices of our group, Bucinska said on Monday. He added that This program included, among others, issues of church funding, the existence of religious classes in schools, or the participation of members of the government in church celebrations.
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“A relic of ancient times”
– It should be said that the church fund – for those who don't know – is what should have been a form of payment for goods taken by the state. However, this property has been inhabited for a long time – he reminded. He added that “the biggest beneficiary of the church fund is the Catholic Church.”
– The church fund is a relic of old times and it requires reform – he assessed.
He reminded that In its program, Poland 2050 proposes to replace the church fund with a voluntary donation to a selected religious association, which is tax-deductible. or a tax deduction for a selected religious association, a similar tax deduction for a selected public benefit organization.
Buczynska emphasized that decisions will be developed in consultation with representatives of all interested religious associations. – I think this team will have the first meeting together – he said.
“The church fund was just a grant”
The church fund was established by the law of March 20, 1950, on the taking over of the property of the dead by the state, the guarantee of the ownership of the agricultural farms of the parish priests, and on the establishment of the church fund.
According to the original assumptions, it was supposed to be a form of compensation for the churches and other religious associations for the land property taken from them by the state. An estate was to be created from the confiscated property, from which the income was distributed among the churches in proportion to the size of the confiscated property.
F. Prof. Dariusz Valencik from the Faculty of Law and Administration at the University of Opole told PAP that this assumption never materialized. – The amount of confiscated properties, their value and income have never been established. In fact, from the beginning the church fund was simply a grant, It is written in the budget act every year – he explained.
He added that currently the church fund is used by all religious associations legally operating in Poland, including those that did not operate in Poland in 1950 and did not lose any property. Currently there are 185 such religious associations.
Since 1990, the main source of funding for the fund has been the state budget. In the initial period of operation, the fund transferred funds for such purposes as: reconstruction and maintenance of religious buildings, material support of clergy and subsidies for personal and administrative-material expenses. Currently, most of the money received from the church fund covers the social and health insurance contributions of the clergy.
In the draft state budget for next year, the church fund is expected to be PLN 257 million.
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