Data spotlights exodus from Catholic church in Germany

The German Bishops’ Conference and the 27 archdioceses of the Roman Catholic Church in Germany released church data for 2023 Thursday, showing a continued decrease in membership.

How many people have left? More than 400,000 people left the Catholic Church in Germany in 2023. That number is down from 2022, when more than 500,000 people cut ties with the church. In 2021, nearly 360,000 left. The Catholic Church in Germany currently has more than 20,000,000 members, 24 percent of the country’s population, the Conference reports.

How does this compare to the United States? Catholics in the United States make up approximately 20 percent of the population, Pew Research data found. The data showed this figure to be largely consistent over the past several years. However, only 28 percent of that number claimed to attend mass weekly.

Though total Catholic Church membership in Germany went down in 2023, attendance overall increased slightly from 5.7 percent in 2022 to 6.2 percent.

What else has happened in the Catholic Church in Germany? The German Bishops’ Conference supports a program called the Synodal Way. After sexual assault allegations were made against German Catholic clergy, the Conference commissioned a study, released in 2018, to investigate the claims. In 2019, the Conference embraced the Synodal Way’s formal meetings and discussions on church practice with the stated goal of renewal and restoration of trust for the church.

In March 2023, a Synodal Assembly embraced blessing ceremonies for same-sex couples who cannot or do not yet wish to be married. The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith in Rome had clearly stated in 2021 that such unions were not to be blessed, though Pope Francis reversed this in December 2023.

Dig deeper: Read Erick Erickson's commentary for WORLD Opinions questioning whether Pope Francis truly has Catholic beliefs.