GERMANY
Newsweek
By Conor Gaffey 7/21/15
New data released last week by the German Catholic Bishops’ Conference shows that 217,716 people left the Catholic Church in Germany last year, a 22 percent increase from the previous year.
In the past five years, more than 820,000 German Catholics have renounced their membership, according to official church data. Compared to the withdrawal rate in 1990, last year’s exodus represented a 52 percent increase.
Commenting on the figures, Cardinal Reinhard Marx, the chairman of the German Bishops’ Conference, said the bishops were “painfully aware” of the high number of withdrawals but declined to give specific reasons for people leaving the church.
“Behind the numbers of church withdrawals are personal life decisions that we in each case profoundly regret but also respect the freedom of choice,” said Marx.
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