Marshal of the Sejm, Szymon Hołownia, has instructed the Supreme Audit Office (NIK) to conduct an audit of the financing of churches and other religious associations from public funds, with particular emphasis on the financing of the Catholic Church, for the period from November 12, 2019, to November 12, 2023. In his letter to the President of NIK, the Marshal of the Sejm outlined the reasons guiding his request for the audit. Szymon Hołownia emphasized that the Constitution, applicable international legal acts in Poland, and laws guarantee freedom of thought, conscience, and religion while prohibiting discrimination on the basis of religious beliefs. He noted that the Polish constitution guarantees the equality of churches and other religious associations and mandates that public authorities maintain neutrality in matters of religious, philosophical, and worldview beliefs, with the concurrent duty to ensure the freedom of expressing them in public life. Authorities also have a constitutional obligation to shape relations between the state and churches and religious associations “on the principles of respecting their autonomy and mutual independence,” as well as “cooperating for the good of the individual and the common good.”
From these provisions, it follows that it is unacceptable to “obligate anyone to financially support religious communities alien to them, especially the obligation to pay church tax for the benefit of a religious community with which the taxpayer does not identify” – the Marshal of the Sejm emphasized, noting that citizens have the right to freely provide for churches and other religious associations, as well as charitable and care institutions.
Hołownia also reminded that Poland lacks systematic legal solutions regarding the financing of churches and other religious associations from public funds that guarantee freedom of conscience and religion.
Taking into account the above reasons, the Marshal of the Sejm has requested the Supreme Audit Office to examine public expenditures on various churches and other religious associations, with special emphasis on the Catholic Church, made from November 12, 2019, to November 12, 2023, by entities legally subject to NIK’s audit. At the Marshal’s request, the Chamber will also review, among others, funds spent within the educational subsidy for financing religious education and for the maintenance and salaries of chaplains employed in services, inspections, and guards. The audit will also cover, among others, expenditures from the Church Fund, tax and customs reliefs, exemptions, and preferences applied to churches and other religious associations, and other forms of financial or property support from public funds.
