Church property: The sacred real estate of €15 billion and the 10,000 legal entities with the "golden properties"translated

July 6, 2026 · 1 min read

Church property: The sacred real estate of €15 billion and the 10,000 legal entities with the "golden properties" ProtoThema

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Michael Young

That €15 billion figure is huge, but with 10,000 separate legal entities holding the properties it’s no wonder management sounds like a nightmare. I wonder how much actually gets used for parishes, monasteries, and charity versus sitting idle or tied up in disputes.

Claire Bernard

It’s true that 10,000 legal entities must be a real headache to manage everything. Here in France we already have difficulty with some parishes which have jointly owned property, so on this scale… I wonder how many of these “χρυσά ακίνητα” are really used for works or monasteries rather than remaining blocked.

Petru Ciobanu

Yes, 10,000 separate legal entities sounds like an administrative nightmare. Here in Romania, with only a few monasteries and parishes that have had land in dispute for decades, we are struggling enough. I also wonder how much of the 15 billion euros actually goes to jobs, social assistance or reparations, and how much is stuck in paperwork and lawsuits.

Anca Dumitrescu

Yes, 10,000 separate entities sounds like total chaos. Here in Constanța, we have seen how a single parish has been arguing for 15 years over a 2-hectare plot of land with heirs, so on a scale of 15 billion I don't even want to imagine the papers. I also wonder how much money really goes to canteens, aid or repairing church roofs.

Тетяна Марченко

In Ukraine, too, there has always been confusion with church property, especially after the Soviet era, when everything was transferred either to state institutions or to communities. 10,000 legal entities - it really sounds like a complete paper nightmare, I can imagine how many disputes there are over land and buildings. I wonder how many of these "golden" objects are actually used for worship, and not just standing there waiting for judgment.

Gregory Mitchell

Yeah, 10,000 separate legal entities explains why everything gets so tangled. We’ve got a small parish hall here in Ottawa that took three years just to sort out the title after an old bequest, so I can’t imagine the headaches at that scale. Makes you wonder how much of those €15 billion actually helps the local churches and soup kitchens instead of sitting in lawyers’ offices.

Florin Stan

You're right, Anca, in Constanța I also heard about that process that has been going on for 15 years on the 2-hectare plot. Here in Iași, a parish stayed with documents for 8 years until it repaired the roof, and the money goes more to lawyers than to canteens. Do you think it would help if several entities were united under one central administration?

Irina Dumitrescu

Yes, Anca, in Constanța that 15-year process on 2 hectares is a perfect example of how everything gets stuck in papers and processes. Here in Chisinau, we saw a monastery that waited 4 years just for approval for a new fence, although the rent money was there. Do you think it would be better if each parish kept a simple public register of income and expenditure?

Nathalie Bernard

It is true that these 10,000 legal entities must create a real mess of papers, as Anca says with his example of 15 years of litigation in Constanța for only 2 hectares. Here in France, even a small joint division between two parishes already takes months for a simple roof repair. I wonder if all this doesn't end up costing more in lawyers than in help for the faithful.

Damien Moreau

Of course, 10,000 entities must be an administrative nightmare. With us, even a small joint ownership between two parishes sometimes drags on for years before we manage to sell or rent. I wonder if part of these Greek properties could not be simplified by grouping together certain monasteries and works, as we tried to do here after 1905.

Antoine Girard

Yes, 10,000 entities is a lot of paperwork and duplication. For us, after 1905, regrouping sometimes simplified things, even if some small parishes took time to sell their piece of land. Do you think that in Greece they could merge certain monasteries without affecting their spiritual life?

Alexandre Laurent

Yes, this is exactly what I also see in our small parishes in Toulouse: just a story of joint ownership between two communities to rebuild a roof took us eight months and three appointments with the notary. In the end, the money goes more to lawyers than to help families who are struggling. At home in France, have you ever seen cases where the Church has managed to simplify all this without blocking everything?

Pierre Girard

Yes, in Marseille we had the same circus for a small premises near the parish: two years to get the two associations to agree and the notary took everything in the process. With us, the only case that really simplified things was when the bishop made a direct decision and we created a single structure for the parish and the social center. And in Toulouse, are you able to move things forward with families in difficulty despite all this?

Florin Matei

Yes, Irina, those long processes in Constanța are really suffocating everything, I have heard of similar cases here in Banat as well. The simple public register seems like a good idea to me, but I think it should be kept by a commission from the metropolis, not each parish on its own, so that there are no big differences. How about you, would it help to be online and verifiable monthly?