The Catholic Church in Poland could regain property seized by the communist regime by the end of the current year, a national daily said Tuesday. According to Rzeczpospolita, the Catholic Church has been involved in a long drawn-out legal battle, trying to regain property it lost to the communists after they came to power in Poland in 1948.
The church has since received compensation, but the state has yet to return about 50 hectares of land nationalized in 1950.
A 2006 ruling gave the church ownership of non-sacred property in "recovered lands" including forests and hospitals previously under its control.
But the Catholic Church still has claims to other properties and is anxious to clear up the matter, the paper said.
"The Church wants to close property claims as soon as possible because this harms its image. A growing number of people think that the Church is growing rich illegally," said Krzysztof Wasowski, of the Church-government property committee, which will be abolished later this year.
He said the committee still needs to investigate almost 240 property claims from parishes, orders, church organizations and archdioceses in Warsaw, Katowice and Wroclaw.
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SIC: RIAN