Saturday, March 03, 2012

Poland's faithful provide 80 percent of Church finances

/A report by Poland's Catholic News Agency (KAI) has revealed that 80 percent of the funding for the country's Roman Catholic Church comes from donations from the faithful.
 
About 500 million zloty (120.5 million euro) is donated to the Church by the public each year.

The majority of this funding is gathered in the traditional collections held during masses. 

Annual revenues for parishes vary dramatically, depending on the wealth of the region.

A humble parish might garner a minimum of 30,000 zloty per year (7,230 euro), while a wealthy one might amass as much as 400,000 zloty (96,500 euro).

“The Church is as rich as the richness and generosity of its faithful,” said Cardinal Kazimierz Nycz, Archbishop of Warsaw, during the presentation of the material on Monday.

The report indicates that typical collections gathered during Sunday masses – in larger parishes there might be several services each Sunday - might range from 500 zloty to 4000 zloty (120 to 965 euro), depending on the area.

Payments are also made by members of the public for masses dedicated to the deceased (10 to 100 zloty, depending on the area), and at burials and weddings.

Only some parishes can count on extra income, via the leasing of property, business ventures and subsidies (for example EU grants).

The largest costs for parishes are heating and lighting, followed by the payment of staff costs (organists, cleaners).

Clergymen earn between 800 and 5500 zloty per month (192 to 1326 euros) for their pastoral work, but one in two are also employed at local schools, for which they earn additional wages.

The report claims that “the support that the Church offers the state - relieving them of various social, educational and cultural task -, can be estimated at several billion dollars per year."

Last year, the government paid 89 million zloty (21.4 million euro) into the so called Fundusz Koscielny (Church Fund).

However, the Roman Catholic Church points out that this money is divided among all faiths (Poland has, among others, Orthodox, Greek Catholic, Evangelical and Jewish minorities).

The Roman Catholic Church argues that more money should be paid into the Church Fund, as to date, the state has not fully compensated for the ravages of communism.
 
According to the Church, the state took 155,000 hectares of land, but has only returned 65 thousand. 

The state continues to make money from the land.
 
Calculations made by the Church, in relation to land lease values, call for 200 million zloty per year (48.2 million euro), as opposed to the current 89 million.