Finance Minister defends Divine Providence complex expenditure

Visualisation of the Temple of Divine Providence in Warsaw. Image: cc/wiki/Lech i Wojciech Szymborscy

The comment comes days after a protest against the state funding of the complex, which is set to become one of Poland’s most important religious and national symbols.

The demonstration took place as a result of the 2015 budget motion being passed by the Sejm lower parliamentary house last week, where a reserve budget line for the culture ministry states “funds for cultural activities, including the John Paul II Museum and the Temple of Divine Providence”.

“This is a shift in budgets within the culture ministry and is merely a more detailed approach to the forecast expenditure of funds which have been guaranteed,” Szczurek told broadcaster TVN24 on Monday morning.

“I think that the completion of this museum is rightly justified and is better than upholding a situation whereby the investment is not finished for years down the line,” Poland’s finance minister added.

According to Szczurek, similar lines are added to the culture ministry’s budget for the financing of the Museum of the History of Polish Jews and many other cultural institutions. (jb)

Source: PAP