The topic of the church and finances keeps cropping up in public discourse, including in Croatia.
Most recently, a public debate about Mass stipends caused a stir and heated discussions.
At their most recent plenary meeting, the Croatian bishops increased the recommended donation for a Mass celebration for special intentions of the faithful from seven to ten euros.
The decision has caused controversy in recent weeks and polarised the public.
Numerous media outlets such as the newspaper "Vecernji list" accused the Croatian Bishops' Conference (HBK) of greed and commentators suggested a system modelled on the German system.
On the other hand, those in favour said that the church was having a charitable effect in an area that was not being "played" much by the state. Others argued that no one would be denied a Mass stipend for lack of money.
In the Catholic Church, a priest can celebrate Mass for special intentions of the faithful in return for a Mass stipend, while Masses without donations are also recommended for the needy. The newspaper "24sata" also wanted to know what churchgoers had to say about this. Everyone should act according to their conscience, said a Catholic from the harbour city of Rijeka.
"You also have to consider inflation, which affects all areas of life. Spending ten euros once or twice a year on something that brings you peace and quiet is not difficult," she added.
For those who have no money, a conscientious and moral clergyman should still pray, says another believer. And: "The money does not benefit him personally anyway, but serves the needs and purposes of the church and the poorer communities.
A man agrees with him and points out that the church buildings need to be maintained and that renovations and heating also need to be paid for. Other worshippers, especially older people, were unpleasantly surprised by the price increase. One persionate found the price increase unfair to pensioners: "I wouldn't mind price increases if our pensions were higher. The church should have financed itself from other sources," said the Catholic from the town of Slavonski Brod in eastern Croatia.
Money from the state
One of the "other sources" mentioned with regard to finances are state contributions that benefit the church. There is no church contribution system like in Germany; instead, according to critics, the current financing system is inconsistent, non-transparent and inadequate.
Although the church primarily relies on donations, collections and mass stipends, there are also state contributions, which have recently caused heated public debate.
In April, an internal church document was leaked to the political weekly magazine "Nacional", revealing how much money the state paid to the Catholic Church in 2024 alone. Clerics who also have the document confirmed this when asked by katholisch.de. Although the public is aware that the church receives money from the state every year, the amount was not previously known.
The weekly newspaper received the confidential document from a priest who is deeply dissatisfied with the way in which the church disposes of the money paid by the state.
According to the document, which is a proposal for the 2024 budget of the HBK Secretariat, more than 51 million euros will be provided by the state, most of which is earmarked for priests' salaries.
According to media reports, however, this large sum appears to be distributed differently. This was confirmed to katholisch.de by a priest who is not allowed to reveal his identity. The pressure within the church and the fear of sanctions are too great. The money flows from the state into a so-called priest's salary fund of the Bishops' Conference. From there, it is distributed to the individual dioceses.
Once the money has arrived in the dioceses, the bishop alone disposes of it and decides single-handedly how and when it is distributed. There are no supervisory bodies, administrative committees or similar bodies, according to the clergyman, who speaks of a "grey area" due to a lack of control and transparency.
Nobody can understand how much money the diocese actually receives, how much the bishop ultimately distributes to the parishes, what is left over and what happens to the rest.
Due to the sole decision-making power of the bishop and sometimes different regulations in the dioceses, quite a few priests receive lower salaries.
Priests' salaries should be the same in all parts of Croatia. The basic salary is 640 euros, plus certain allowances that depend on several factors. These include the number of parishioners and the length of service, the Mass stipends mentioned at the beginning and the money the priest receives for various other pastoral activities - for example, blessing homes and families, administering the sacraments or funerals.
According to the priest, this is also a "grey area", as no one can control how much money is collected. He cited the so-called house blessings as an example. Part of the money has to be paid by the priest to the diocese, but nobody can track how much money the priest has actually collected from the blessings.
Inconsistent system
When asked what happens if a parish cannot raise enough money for the priest's salary, there is one solution, according to the priest: the diocese then has to step in, but this is not always and everywhere the case.
In the aforementioned Politmagazin article, a disgruntled priest is quoted as saying: "Few people realise that priests bear some of the costs themselves from their salary, which many would expect the diocese to cover. For example, 50 per cent of the heating costs are borne by the priests and 50 per cent by the diocese.
Unfortunately, we are on our own and our future is very uncertain, especially because the issue of pensions, which is entirely in the hands of the dioceses, is not regulated clearly enough and the state should also take care of this problem," the priest is quoted as saying by the political magazine.
Former member of parliament and Catholic theologian Marko Vučetić, on the other hand, commented on the bishops' behaviour to katholisch.de: "The Catholic Church in Croatia is slowly but inexorably losing its religious and spiritual identity. Since state independence and especially since the conclusion of the state-church treaties, the bishops have behaved like political governors with financial privileges."
Neither the state, which provides the budget, nor the priests and faithful have the right to ask how and on what the money is spent, says Vučetić. However, there is one exception: in 2015, the current Archbishop of Rijeka, Mate Uzinić, set a precedent in the Church of Croatia by being the first Croatian bishop - then still Bishop of Dubrovnik - to publish the financial report of his diocese.
Internal documents from discussions within the church, which are available to katholisch.de, show that frustration has been building up among the clergy for some time regarding the question of money.
One priest criticised the fact that none of the state funds were reaching a region in eastern Croatia. Another sharply criticises the bishops: the money would be used by the head pastors to open Catholic schools and museums, set up their ordinariates and assemble a "loyal and obedient clergy".
There would be little left over for salaries and pensions. Another emphasises that many clergy are aware of the problems but remain silent so as not to jeopardise their own position. The pressure of sanctions is too great. Nevertheless, they try to draw attention to the problems anonymously. An enquiry by katholisch.de to the Bishops' Conference about the state funds and further financing has so far remained unanswered.
In addition to the large sum that the bishops in their dioceses can dispose of without control, 2.5 million euros are spent from the budget on the secretariat of the Bishops' Conference, which has raised the question in public discourse as to why an office with no more than ten full-time employees needs so much money.
Media funding is also included in the budget.
The Catholic Broadcasting Corporation (HKR), the news agency (IKA) and the Catholic Network (HKM), an internet portal with news from the life of the Church, receive around one million euros. The public and critics have long been calling for more transparency in the financial sector and a revision of the contracts between church and state.
It therefore remains to be seen whether and when the Bishops' Conference will follow suit with more concrete ideas for a transparent system.
However, our interviewee does not believe that the system will be reformed - despite the increasingly loud calls for a reform of the state-church contract. This is because, depending on their position, many clergy benefit from such a system in which there is no control or transparency.