The civil status of the Catholic Church in Poland (1918-1980)

Abstract

The history of the regulation of the civil status of the Church in Poland form 1918 up to the present day should be divided into two periods: the years 1918-1931 and 1945-1980. The reason for a change of legal regulation in this sphere was due to the change in the political system of Poland after World War II.

In the first period the civil status of the Church was regulated by the March Constitution of 1921 and by the Concordat of 1925. The Constitution granted the Church civil status on an equal rigths with other religious communities (articles 113, 114). The Concordat conceded this status to all units of the Church organization having canonical status on the territory of contemporary Poland.

During the second period the change of legal regulation was also started in that sphere. In the Constitution of the Polish People’s Republic of 1952 the regulation of the legal and financial situation of the Church and other religious communities was guaranteed by law (article 82, § 2). However, tat statutory regulation was hitherto fragmentary and differentiated to a great extent. It should be noticed that the financial situation of the Church on the territory which belonged to Poland before 1939 was treated differently from that of the Regained Territories which, before 1939 belonged to the Reich. It was not untill 1972 that the civil status of the Church organizational units on the Regained Territories was recognized. The comprehensive and uniform regulation of that problem has been the subject of the bilateral negotiations between the Catholic Church and the State since 1974.