Church the Landlord

Organized religion in Czechia works like a business…

Guys, the Catholic Church has sway over like 10% of the Czech population, and Czech Protestants are a marginal phenomenon. But little did I realize is that the Catholic Church is like a big landlord in Prague.

According to Seznam, the Catholic Church wants to become a major player in the rental market. The Archdiocese of Prague already owns 300 flats costing 2 billion CZK, which is around 87 million USD. They are planning to buy another 550.

The Catholic Church was recently a beneficiary of so called Church restitutions, whereby properties confiscated by the Communist regime were returned back to organization. The properties were often in sorry state and the assets had to be restructured and made profitable. By 2030, the Czech government should stop the state sponsorship of Churches, and they will have to find other means to sustain themselves. Given the low religiosity of the people tithes are not an option.