GERMANY
Christian Today
James Macintyre 18 July 2016
Almost 200,000 Catholics left the Church in Germany last year, according to figures which show an ongoing, steady decline in church attendance in that country.
There are 23.7 million Catholics in Germany, comprising 29 per cent of the population of 80 million, making Catholicism the largest religious group. But figures released at the end of last week by the German Bishops’ Conference show that in 2015, a total of 181,925 people left the Church, while 2,685 people became Catholic, and 6,474 reverted to Catholicism.
When compared to the official statistics of 20 years ago, average church attendance is down from 18.6 per cent in 1995 to 10.4 per cent in 2015, while the number of baptisms has declined by more than a third, from almost 260,000 in 1995 to just over 167,000 in 2015.
The decline in marriages is even steeper, with 86,456 couples marrying in church 21 years ago, and almost half that number – 44,298 couples – tying the knot in church last year.
Despite the figures, the head of the conference, Cardinal Reinhard Marx of Munich and Freising described the Church as a continuing “strong force, whose message is heard and accepted”.
Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.