Poland gave 17.5bn zlotys in public funds to religious organizations in 2021-23, finds state auditor

At least 17.5 billion zlotys (€4.1 billion) was transferred to religious organizations by state bodies in Poland between 2021 and 2023, with around 95% of the total going to the Catholic church, the Supreme Audit Office (NIK) has found.

The findings were presented on Thursday by the speaker of parliament, Szymon Hołownia, who is also a candidate in Sunday's presidential election . Hołownia, a practicing Catholic who has long called for a stronger separation of church and state , himself requested that NIK produce the report.

He argues that its findings – which include large amounts of money being given to religious bodies in violation of relevant regulations – show the need for greater oversight of public financing of the church. He also called for new legislation to tackle the issue.

The nearly 400-page report by NIK – which is the body constitutionally tasked with oversight of public spending – reviewed spending from national and local state budgets, as well as European Union funds.

The audit focused on a period that covered the final three years in the office of the national-conservative Law and Justice (PiS) party, which enjoys close relations with the Catholic church . It was replaced in December 2023 by a new coalition government that includes Hołownia's centrist Poland 2050 (Polska 2050) party.

The report found that the largest public expenditure directed towards the church was the 6 billion zlotys spent on salaries for teachers of religion in public schools . That subject consists of Catholic catechism, with curriculums and teachers (often priests or nuns) chosen by the church.

A further PLN 5.9 billion went to religious bodies through subsidies from national or local authorities; PLN 3.1 billion on religious universities and schools; 1.7 billion on tax exemptions and donations; PLN 590 million on the so-called Church Fund ; and 180 million on remuneration for chaplains.

Overall, 95% of the total amount—approximately 16.5 billion zlotys—was directed towards recipients associated with the Catholic church, which is by far Poland's largest and most influential religious institution. Just over 71% of people in Poland identify as Catholics , according to the last census.

NIK's report also found that 106 out of 160 grants awarded to Catholic institutions – worth around 200 million zlotys – were distributed without following proper procedures. Of 18 examined grants from the prime minister's reserve fund, 15 were found to lack a legal basis for bypassing normal public competition regulations.

The audit also revealed that the State Forests agency donated more than 8 million zlotys to religious bodies between 2021 and 2023, with half of the donations reportedly failing to meet public benefit criteria.

Overall, the three biggest single beneficiaries of cash flows from state bodies were the Profeto Foundation, Lux Veritatis Foundation and the College of Social and Media Culture in Toruń.

The first of those is led by Michał Olszewski, a priest currently facing corruption charges relating to money his organization received from the justice ministry under PiS. The latter two were founded by Tadeusz Rydzyk, a prominent priest with close ties to PiS .

Following the report's release, Hołownia outlined several proposed reforms. He called for an end to the free transfer of land to the Catholic church as compensation for wartime losses. “The war ended 80 years ago,” he declared,quoted by news website OKO.press.

He also proposed that the state and church should share the costs of school religion classes – which he estimated at 1 billion zlotys annually – equally. The government recently reduced the number of such classes from two to one hour per week – a move staunchly opposed by the church.

Hołownia also repeated his previous calls to abolish the Church Fund, which currently supports health insurance for clergy, religious charities, and the maintenance of religious buildings.

Abolishing the fund was among the promises Poland's main ruling party, the centrist Civic Coalition (KO), promised – but failed – to implement in its first 100 days in government. This year, The Left – another member of the ruling coalition – proposed a bill to eliminate the fund .

However, after Hołownia's announcement, figures from PiS criticized its demands and defended the church. Marek Pęk, a PiS senator, published a long list of all the charitable and other humanitarian causes that are run by the Catholic church in Poland.

Radosław Fogiel, a PiS MP and former party spokesperson, accused Szymon Hołownia of making his announcement on Thursday in order to divert attention from a scandal surrounding possible foreign funding for campaign adverts supporting KO's presidential candidate, Rafał Trzaskowski.

“Now we're learning that hundreds of thousands of zloty are being funded into illegal campaign financing through a network of foundations and companies, and he shows up talking about state-church funding,” Fogiel wrote on X.

Main image credit: Chancellery of the Sejm/Flickr (under CC BY-NC 2.0 )