The film, the first part of which we will show today on our portal, tells a story rooted in money and a moral scandal. Premiere at 9:00 p.m..

The lack of a complete picture of the Catholic Church’s finances in Poland, as well as public debates about how the Church’s finances operate and the principles governing the spending of funds, makes it impossible to discuss the future of this institution. A discussion important both for the Church and for the state.

It is high time to strip the Catholic Church of its unjustified privileges, especially since this is what the majority of society expects.

What does the Catholic Church in Poland live on?

We present data according to the 2023 Liberté report

Those who love money will never have enough of it

Ecclesiastes 5:10

  • Offerings from the faithful (estimated at PLN 2–3 billion annually; the estimates in this section come from a Gazeta Wyborcza report)
  • “Stole law”: voluntary monetary payments to clergy for certain religious services (estimated at PLN 3–4 billion annually; the estimates in this section come from a Gazeta Wyborcza report)
  • Mass stipends and the house-to-house pastoral visit (no data)
  • Pious bequests. These are donations to the Church, such as a testamentary bequest for religious worship (no data)
  • The Church Fund. It operates on the basis of a 1950 law. In 2023, a record PLN 216 million was allocated to it—more than twice as much as 10 years earlier. 90% of the funds are allocated to health insurance for clergy, seminarians, novices and postulants, as well as social insurance for clergy: retirement, disability and accident insurance.
  • Grants for the social activities of Church institutions under Article 22 of the concordat
  • Grants for the preservation of historic monuments under Article 22 of the concordat
  • Donations for religious worship (under tax laws, including the Personal Income Tax Act)
  • Donations for the Church’s charitable and care activities (PLN 500 million annually, onet.pl news)
  • Business activity (estimated at PLN 3–5 billion annually)
  • Rent, lease and tenancy of real estate (under tax laws, estimated at PLN 3–4 billion)
  • Acquisition of land at a discount or without payment. Between 2015 and 2020, Polish counties sold real estate worth more than PLN 30 million to the Church. The average discount was 91.05%. From 1992 to the present, the Church has received agricultural land free of charge in the so-called Recovered Territories; it is also exempt from restrictions on trading in agricultural land introduced by PiS in 2016 (it does not have to meet the strict conditions required to classify it as an individual farmer)
  • Grants awarded by the state to Church organizations
  • EU grants. Between 2015 and 2020, Polish parishes received approximately PLN 800 million under the European Union’s Common Agricultural Policy
  • Lump-sum income tax. Clergy who pay the lump-sum tax are exempt from the obligation to file tax returns stating the amount of income earned from sources covered by the lump sum. Thus, clergy do not have to keep any records of income received or declare income-generating costs and income
  • Funding for universities and theology departments (under Article 12 of the concordat and separate laws). In 2021, KUL received PLN 163 million from the state budget, the Pontifical University received PLN 37 million, “Ignatianum” PLN 27 million, and UKSW PLN 111 million
  • Other reliefs and exemptions. Church legal entities are exempt from taxation and payments to the municipal and city funds, as well as from tax on real estate or parts thereof owned by these entities or used by them for non-residential purposes, except for premises used for business activity (under the Act on the Relationship between the State and the Catholic Church). Churches and religious associations do not have to pay VAT. Income of Church legal entities from non-business statutory activities is exempt from CIT. These entities are not required to maintain documentation required under the Tax Ordinance (under the Act on the Relationship between the State and the Catholic Church, the VAT Act and the CIT Act). Church legal entities are exempt from real estate tax or tax on parts thereof under the Act on the Relationship between the State and the Catholic Church and the Act on Local Taxes and Fees.
  • The acquisition and disposal of assets and property rights by Church legal entities through inheritance, bequest or acquisitive prescription is exempt from inheritance tax