The Church rate, church fee, church contribution. In the period of the Second Republic of Poland the state’s and the ecclesiastical authorities used these terms in order to determine financial weights voluntarily adopted by parish institutions although obligatorily paid by faithful of the Roman Catholic Church. They were established during the Partition: in the Kingdom of Poland (Congress Poland) in 1817, in the Austrian Partition in 1866 and in the Prussian Partition in 1905.
Having concluded a concordat by Poland and the Holy See (1925), a regulatory process of this complicated issue started. It took until 1930 for the parties to complete the first phase of negotiations. The arrangements brought about passing the Church rates’ law by the Polish Parliament (1932). In the second stage, there were discussions aiming at implementation of a detailed regulation of parish contributions through administrative regulation. These discussions lasted until December 1938. In spite of reaching an agreement, the state’s authorities didn’t publish the aforementioned law by the outbreak of the Second World War. As a result of that, the law has never come into force. Thus, compulsory parish contributions – having over a century of history – have been permanently liquidated.

The Church rate, church fee, church contribution. In the period of the Second Republic of Poland the state’s and the ecclesiastical authorities used these terms in order to determine financial weights voluntarily adopted by parish institutions although obligatorily paid by faithful of the Roman Catholic Church. They were established during the Partition: in the Kingdom of Poland (Congress Poland) in 1817, in the Austrian Partition in 1866 and in the Prussian Partition in 1905.
Having concluded a concordat by Poland and the Holy See (1925), a regulatory process of this complicated issue started. It took until 1930 for the parties to complete the first phase of negotiations. The arrangements brought about passing the Church rates’ law by the Polish Parliament (1932). In the second stage, there were discussions aiming at implementation of a detailed regulation of parish contributions through administrative regulation. These discussions lasted until December 1938. In spite of reaching an agreement, the state’s authorities didn’t publish the aforementioned law by the outbreak of the Second World War. As a result of that, the law has never come into force. Thus, compulsory parish contributions – having over a century of history – have been permanently liquidated.