State spending on parish clergy salaries reached €8.86 million in 2025
State assistance for eligible parish clergy rose to €8.86 million in 2025 and is projected to approach €10 million by 2029.
Nicosia, Cyprus. The state paid €8.86 million towards the salaries of parish clergy in 2025, with the annual cost of the scheme projected to approach €10 million by 2029. The payments cover eligible clergy of the Church of Cyprus and several other religious communities.
Annual spending and projections
Figures released on Tuesday by the accountant general’s office showed total state assistance reached €8,857,408 in 2025, compared with €8.3 million in 2024 and €7.6 million in 2023.
The approved budget provides for €9.1 million this year, rising to €9.3 million in 2027 and €9.5 million in 2028.
Distribution of payments
The synods’ central ecclesiastical fund received the largest share of the funding in 2025, amounting to €8.57 million.
The Maronite archdiocese received €120,920, the Latin church €110,843, the Armenian Church €40,306 and Saint Chrysostom’s Monastery, now operating from Nicosia, €20,153.
Eligibility and payment system
The current arrangement covers 850 eligible priests, with the state contribution set at €681 per priest per month.
The number of beneficiaries is due to increase by 0.5 per cent annually from this year, while the contribution will be adjusted in line with general salary increases granted to state employees.
Payments are not made directly to individual priests. The accountant general transfers the funds to the payroll body of the central ecclesiastical fund, while the Church remains responsible for paying its clergy.
Historical arrangement
The system dates to a 1971 agreement reached when Archbishop Makarios served as both ethnarch and President.
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