900,000 German Roman Catholics Formally Leave Church In Last Two Years + Only 3000 Join
The Roman Catholic Church in Germany formally lost 402,694 members in 2023, the result of an ongoing exodus following revelations of widespread clergy sexual abuse six years prior. According to NCR:
The German Bishops’ Conference said that 402,694 people left the church in 2023. That was down from 522,821 the previous year, but still the second-highest figure so far. At the same time, 1,559 people joined the church and another 4,127 rejoined.
In Germany, people who are formally members of a church pay a so-called church tax that helps finance it in addition to the regular taxes the rest of the population pays. If they register their departure with local authorities, they no longer have to pay that. There are some exemptions for low earners, jobless, retirees, students and others.
In 2018, the Roman Catholic Church commissioned a report to investigate cases of abuse within the church, finding nearly 4000 people were abused by 1700 priests over the last 70 years, with the number certainly much higher, as their own report notes that many of the records of abuse were “destroyed or manipulated.”
In that same time, a mere 1559 people joined the church in 2023 and 1447 joined in 2022. The church still claims 19.5 million members, or about 20% of the country’s population.