Around a tenth of the funds in the annual regional investments distribution scheme which accompanies the Riigikogu's processing of the annual state budget will be allocated to churches or religious associations, pending approval of applications.
Church attendances and a desire for a greater role to be played by the church within society has fallen over the past five years, according to a recent survey.
Society has also become increasingly polarized on the churches role on social, ethical and political matters, the survey found, with few people sitting on the fence on this.
At the same time, general religiosity in Estonia has not seen any significant change in the five years since the last survey on the topic was conducted.
Whereas in 2015, 20 percent of people aged 15-74 said they would describe themselves as religious, this figure stood at 19 percent in the recent survey, conducted by the Estonian Research Center (Eesti Uuringukeskus) on behalf of the Estonian Council of Churches (Eesti Kirikute Nõukogu).