State support amounting to €8.8 million was paid in 2025 to cover part of the salaries of the rural parish clergy and clerics belonging to Cyprus's recognised religious groups, according to state payment data recently published by the Treasury of the Republic as part of transparency and public accountability measures.
The figures show that the subsidy has followed a consistent upward trend. It rose from €7.2 million in 2022 to €7.6 million in 2023 and €8.3 million in 2024, reaching €8.8 million in 2025 and being budgeted at €9.1 million for 2026.
Forecasts contained in the approved 2026 state budget project expenditure of €9.3 million in 2027 and €9.5 million in 2028. The state contribution is therefore on a continuous upward trajectory and is expected to reach €10 million in 2029.
Payment of the state subsidy is based on an agreement dating back to the period when Makarios III simultaneously served as President of the Republic and Archbishop of Cyprus.
The state covers part of the remuneration of parish clergy under an agreement reached in 1971, when Makarios III held both offices.
The framework was revised in 2019 following the passage by parliament of the law entitled "Law on State Assistance to the Parish Clergy of the Greek Orthodox Church of Cyprus".
The state subsidy is linked to the transfer to the state of 15,564 donums of church land, which was agreed as compensation for the government's assumption of part of the clergy salary costs. Notably, approximately 73 per cent of that land is located in the occupied areas.
How the €8.8 million was distributed
According to the Treasury's data, the state paid a total of €8,857,408 in 2025 as assistance towards the salaries of parish clergy.
The largest share was paid to the Central Ecclesiastical Fund of the Holy Synod, while the remaining amounts were distributed as follows:
- Central Ecclesiastical Fund (Holy Synod): €8,565,186
- Maronite Archbishopric: €120,920
- Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem: €110,843
- Armenian Church (Archdiocese): €40,306
- Monastery of Saint Chrysostomos, Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem: €20,153
The rising cost of the subsidy
State support covering part of the salaries of the parish clergy of the Greek Orthodox Church of Cyprus and the recognised religious groups has risen steadily in recent years.
Specifically:
- 2022: €7.2 million
- 2023: €7.6 million
- 2024: €8.3 million
- 2025: €8.8 million
Forecasts through 2028
The upward trend is expected to continue, according to projections in the approved 2026 state budget:
- 2026: €9.1 million
- 2027: €9.3 million
- 2028: €9.5 million
€681 per month
Under the state-church agreement enacted into law in 2019, the number of clergy eligible for state assistance is determined as follows:
- 760 priests from the commencement of the law until 31 December 2020
- 800 priests from 1 January 2021 until 31 December 2023
- 850 priests from 1 January 2024 until 31 December 2025
From 1 January 2026 onwards, the number of clergy eligible for assistance will increase annually by 0.5 per cent.
The amount of state assistance allocated to each priest is set at €681 per month, with the figure increasing in line with the general salary increases and cost-of-living allowances granted to public servants after the law entered into force.
It should be noted that the subsidy is not paid directly by the state to priests. The total amount is paid by the Accountant General to the Payroll Entity of the Parish Clergy of the Central Ecclesiastical Fund of the Holy Synod, with the Church assuming full responsibility for paying the salaries of parish clergy according to its own procedures.
The 1971 decision
The origins of the current state-support framework date back to 1971, when then President of the Republic and Archbishop of Cyprus Makarios III submitted a proposal to the Council of Ministers for the state to assume part of the salary costs of the rural parish clergy.
The decision was taken on 11 February 1971 and was linked to the transfer of church-owned land to the state.
Specifically, it provided for the transfer of 15,564 donums of church land in exchange for state financial support for the parish clergy.
To implement the agreement, legislation was submitted to parliament in 1973, but was subsequently withdrawn.
Despite the withdrawal of the bill, the agreement was implemented in practice and the state began covering part of the salary costs of the rural parish clergy.
The transfer of the church land that had been agreed as compensation, however, was not completed at the time.
Those land transfers were ultimately carried out in 2019, as part of the revision of the state-support framework and the agreement reached between the state and the Archbishopric of Cyprus.
