Interministerial team will work out a revision of the financing system of the Ecclesiastical Fund

The team, which will handle changes to the Ecclesiastical Fund financing system, will consist of:

• Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Defence Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz,
• Minister of the Interior and Administration Marcin Kierwiński,
• Minister of Family, Labour and Social Policy Agnieszka Dziemianowicz-Bąk
• Minister of Finance Andrzej Domański,
• Head of the Chancellery of the Prime Minister Jan Grabiec,
• Representative of the Government Legislation Centre.

“I care a lot about honest and open public consultations, and above all with the churches concerned," stressed Prime Minister Donald Tusk.

Voluntary funding of churches by the congregation

The Head of Government added that work on the new regulations will move towards a system of financial responsibility of the faithful for their churches. The idea is to establish a system of voluntary tax deduction for those interested in supporting their church.

“It has to be a decision of the faithful, not a decision of the state – so that everyone also has a sense of fairness: some get a bond with the church and others get the feeling that they are not paying for something they do not want to pay for,” said the Prime Minister.

At the same time, the Head of Government emphasised that the planned changes are not about an ideological war, but about an elementary sense of transparency and decency:

“You know my view – I have said it many times: if we free the church from political power and free the church from public money, it will only be to the benefit of the church.”

Completion of the team's work and implementation of the changes is scheduled for 2025.

Amendments to the Budget-Related Act

“We have also decided – after the President's veto – that the Government will prepare a new Budget-Related Act," announced Prime Minister Donald Tusk.

“Our proposal was very deliberate. These PLN 3 billion in bonds was to be at the disposal of the Minister of Finance, and our assumption was to allocate this money primarily to paediatric oncology. This was our intention. We also publicly assured that the Minister of Finance would make such decisions. The President vetoed this act with various consequences," explained the Head of Government.

In the new draft of the Budget-Related Act, the PLN 3 billion that had been earmarked for public broadcasting will be used to subsidise paediatric oncology and psychiatry, treatment of rare diseases in children and treatment of oncological diseases.

The Minister of Culture and National Heritage will provide further information on the funding of public media in the coming days.