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A study by Siena partners Fundacja Reporterów of the Polish Center for Investigative Journalism reveals a cloak of mystery, a long-closed institute named after Father Peter Skarga and two Polish structures that contributed to the rise of the influential the Ordo Iuris organization and the Lithuanian Pro Homeland movement. “Associated Institute of Christian Culture.
For a long time, the hidden assets of the Peter Skarga Foundation and the association of the same name came to light for the first time. It turned out that Catholic organizations not only generated strong cash flows, but they also amassed considerable real estate. The conflict within these organizations also revolves around money and wealth.
Hanging magnates
The assets of Peter Skarga’s organizations came to light due to internal disagreements. In the event of a conflict at the highest levels of the hierarchy, a judicial process was initiated in which the Fundacja reporter found the data on the property.
To understand what and how influential and wealthy actors do not share, it must first be noted that two organizations were christened in the name of Petras Skargas: a foundation and an association. Both have accumulated great wealth and infrastructure, providing a very solid income for devout Poles. Representatives of the ambiguous international organization Tradition, Family, Property (TFP) and its long-term allies in Poland are now fighting over these assets.
The organization itself estimates that the accumulated properties amount to almost 23 million. zlotys (more than 5 million euros). It is not only a 19th-century building in the center of Krakow, home to the Peter Skarga Foundation and Association, but also, for example, two apartments worth around one million zlotys (about 223 thousand euros). An apartment is used as an office for organization. Who is used for the second – could not determine.
Petro Skargos associations pastatas Krokuvoje (Konrad Szczygieł / “Foundation of reporters nuotr.)
In addition to real estate, religious organizations also have huge cash flows. According to official data, most of this money is collected by pious Poles.
The documents presented in the judicial process show that the income of the Peter Skargas Foundation of the victims in 2014-2018. amounted to almost 200 million. zlotys (about 44.6 million euros). By comparison, Caritas Poland raised € 245 million during the same period. zlotys.
The key to such impressive income is a well-mastered marketing mechanism. Hundreds of thousands of Poles each year send cheap medallions with images of the Mother of God and the saints of Fatima, books, rosaries. The shipment also includes a request to donate to the organization’s work with all the necessary instructions. Peter Skarga’s organizations summarize this with the English term “direct mail”.
Organizations have been developing this practice for many years. A large contact database has been compiled, which makes it possible to regularly supply many pious Poles with packages with pendants and other attributes. According to the organization’s documents, only in 2018. 377 thousand pendants and brochures with the theme of Fatima were distributed, 740 thousand a calendar of “365 days with Mary” and more than a million brochures to raise funds.
And while the organization bases its funding model on Catholic symbols, it is not officially affiliated with the church. The people of the Peter Skarga Foundation and Association call themselves the secular Catholic movement.
Do donors know that the money they raise is used to buy high-value real estate? Piotr Kucharski, representative of the Peter Skarga Foundation, stated that all areas of the organization’s activities are “described in correspondence with donors.”
When asked why the value of the assets accumulated by organizations had been hidden for many years in such a case, P. Kucharski was laconic: there was no legal obligation for organizations carrying out such activities to disclose such information.
War on wealth
2019 In May, Leonardo Przybysz, 78, a board member of the Peter Skargas Foundation, received an email inviting him to attend a board meeting. The invitation is unexpected and difficult to implement: it indicates that the meeting will take place the next day. Neither in Warsaw nor in Krakow, in Paris.
Mr. Prybyby politely apologized for not being able to attend. And what happened in it ignited the still ongoing civil war among the elite who controlled Peter Skarga’s organizations.
The Council met in the presence of two members, TFP representatives Caio Xavier de Silveira and Matthias von Gersdorff. By decision of the Council, it was decided to remove the Board of Trustees of the Peter Skargas Foundation and form a new one.
The foundation’s longtime leaders, Sławomir Olejniczak, Sławomir Skiba, and Arkadiusz Stelmach, were thrown overboard, replaced by two representatives of the foundation’s sister youth organization, Krucjata Młodych (Polish Youth Crusade) and the figure of long-standing TFP, Fernando Antunez Ald. Thus crowned in 2018, a conflict has begun between representatives of the TFP and their longtime allies in Peter Skarga’s organizations.
Petro Skargos associations pastatas Krokuvoje (Konrad Szczygieł / “Foundation of reporters nuotr.)
According to the lawsuit filed in court, one of the executives S.Olejniczak dismissed in 2019. Earlier in the year he promised to transfer assets from one organization to another. Generally speaking, ownership passed from the Peter Skarga Foundation (in which S. Olejniczak soon lost control) to the association of the same name in which S. Olejniczak held positions.
As a result of these operations and the wealth accumulated under Peter Skarga’s banner, the ongoing war broke out between the old and the new foundation board. Oljniczak and his colleagues are contesting the decision to remove the board, and the new board is handing over their predecessors to the prosecutor’s office, accusing them of damaging the organization and pumping assets.
So far, the old board of funds is somewhat of a leader in this competition for wealth and influence. The prosecution had launched an investigation into his actions, but ended it. And although the Peter Skarga Foundation is still managed by a new board, many of the assets remain under the control of the Peter Skarga Association, which is hosted by the old board members.
An influential organization and “exporter” to Lithuania
The organizations named after Peter Skarga in Poland are directly linked to the Ordo Iuris Institute, an influential organization that advocates for the prohibition of abortion and against same-sex couples. It was Peter Skarga’s organization that was at the origin of the Ordo Iuris and the survival of the institute in its early years.
The Ordo Iuris was especially strengthened when the current Polish rulers came to power.
One of the founders of Ordo Iuris Aleksander Stępkowski in 2015. appointed Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs. Among the areas he oversaw was human rights. A. Stępkowski did not remain in political office for long; He resigned from the post of deputy minister as early as 2016. But last year he was appointed a judge of the Polish Supreme Court.
A. Stepkowski was appointed to this position by the President of Poland, Andrzej Duda. 2018 Duda has also appointed another lawyer, Krzysztof Wiak, in connection with the Ordo Iuris.
Andrzejus Duda eitynėse “Už gyvyba” (Dariusz Golik / “Foundation of nuotr. Reporters)
The Ordo Iuris actively sought to toughen abortion policy in Poland. The organization claims to have contributed to the Constitutional Court’s decision on abortion, which was followed by mass protests in Poland.
Ordo Iuris is also supported by a Lithuanian organization, the Free Society Institute, whose event was organized and sponsored by First Lady Diana Nausėdienė under the roof of the presidency. He wrote about it on Tuesday.
The Peter Skarga Foundation still has representatives on the Ordo Iuris council. However, the foundation maintains that it is only an “advisory voice” and not the leadership of the organization. However, the cash flow between the Peter Skarga and Ordo Iuris organizations did not stop until at least 2019.
Like the Ordo Iuris, Peter Skarga’s association joined the Polish Constitutional Court after a controversial decision on abortion. According to the organization, the court issued a “landmark” decision prohibiting the “unborn [kūdikių] killing “.
The Peter Skarga Association has drafted and publicly invited the signing of an online petition expressing its support for the court’s decision. It is reported that so far the petition has been signed by about 30 thousand. people.
In Lithuania, the Peter Skarga Foundation has a kind of subsidiary organization: the Christian Culture Institute (CCI), funded by both the foundation and the association of the same name. Like organizations in Poland, the institute actively uses the religious symbols and attributes of Fatima.
Probably the most famous ICC was in 2018, when together with other organizations it organized a protest against LRT, demanding “the return of honest and loyal journalism to the state.” The protest was organized by the ICC together with the right-wing youth gathering Pro Patria. Several actors involved in Pro Patria were hired as CCI managers at that time.
The publication is funded by IJ4EU
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