The church fund in the Polish socio-political dispute after 1989

The Church Fund is a public institution serving primarily as a compensation to churches and religious associations for property seized during the People’s Republic of Poland. The aim of this text is to analyse the political and social demands related to the functioning, reform and liquidation of the Church Fund that appeared in the public space after 1989. In order to achieve this objective, four fundamental research problems are posed: (1) When and why was the Church Fund established? (2) What is the role of the Church Fund? (3) What social and political expectations of the functioning of the Church Fund are noticeable in Poland after 1989? (4) Why is there an attempt to abolish the Church Fund after 2023? Findings from the research indicate that although the Church Fund plays an important social role, social and political dissatisfaction with the involvement of the Catholic Church in Poland in the current political dispute between 2015 and 2023 has resulted in an increase in the scale and strength of demands calling for the full separation of the state and the Church, including the abolition of the Church Fund.