Abstract
This study analyses the models of public and private funding and the adjacent administrative processes in practice in six European countries of Catholic majority, where a specific type of secularism prevails: separation with cooperation, churches and religious denominations’ hierarchy, through special laws, and religious freedom. By examining the object of our study, the funding of religious institutions, we will be able to create a more comprehensive dialogue on secularism. To that end, we propose an examination of the funding mechanisms - financial compensations, direct or indirect tax advantages or tax assignation - that the States and taxpayers offer or can offer to churches and religious denominations. The use of the comparative method, between Austria, Italy, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia and Spain, will make us think over the new challenges and trends placed in front of European contemporary societies in the field of public funding.
Keywords:
secularism; funding; churches; religious denominations; Europe