Church Fund is still not turning a profit, says president

Six years after the separation of Church and State, the Church Fund is still not turning a profit, according to Marianne Bausch, the fund's new president. The fact that many churches were forced to close during the pandemic took a financial toll, too, according to Bausch, who noted that church collections dropped by 30%. Collections are one of the Church Fund's key sources of revenue, in addition to donations and rent payments. Because the heating of church buildings consumes a lot of energy and accounts for around 20% of the Church Fund's costs, 2022 has also been a challenging year due to rising energy prices.

Social housing no longer profitable enough

The Fund wants to invest in real estate in particular to secure future funding. The plan is to build new structures on property held by the church and rent them out to interested tenants. Originally, the goal was to construct social housing, but this was shelved since "building conditions have altered" and are no longer "advantageous." Even if it is true that social housing is more in keeping with Christian ideals, Bausch noted that the Fund currently has no alternative but to become profitable and "learn to become independent." The Fund predicts that an annual budget of €8 million is required, which is "currently not possible with social housing". Bausch, on the other hand, made it clear that she does not rule out the possibility that this could change in the future.

Church Fund has made procedures "more transparent and efficient"

Overall, the separation of Church and State was a significant change for staff and the approximately 1,000 volunteers. Nonetheless, Bausch noted that the Church Fund's management has improved since its inception and procedures have become "more transparent and efficient". For example, formerly, the Church had hundreds of insurance contracts for each individual church, whereas now there is only one contract that applies to all churches, according to Bausch. In total, there are 493 churches and chapels in Luxembourg. 356 of them are owned by municipalities, 70% of which have signed a convention with the Church Fund. One and a half years ago, this figure was still at 50%. Bausch is optimistic that the number will keep increasing. The Fund itself owns 137 churches and chapels. Since the separation of Church and State, four churches and eleven chapels have been desecrated.

Marianne Bausch described the relationship with the State as "relaxed".