In 2022, the number of people leaving the Catholic Church in Germany reached a record high: 522,821 people left, after 359,338 had already left in 2021.
This unprecedented number is mainly due to the fact that a person who officially leaves the Church ("Kirchenaustritt") is exempted from paying the so-called church tax ("Kirchensteuer"), which - depending on the land The amount of the tax in which he lives amounts to 8-9 percent of the IRPF... and that is not replaced by another tax. In other words, whoever does not have a real commitment to the Church, saves a not insignificant amount in fiscal matters.
What is not known, on the other hand, is whether or not the fact that the German Synodal Way may have influenced these figures. In any case, this process of "reform" has created disillusionment in many people when they see issues that, in reality, have little to do with their life of faith.
Against these huge numbers of withdrawals, the number of adults admitted for the first time into the Catholic Church amounts to 1,447 in 2002 (2021: 1,465) and those who had withdrawn and are being received again amounts to 3,753 (2021: 4,116).
The above figures are derived from statistics released on Wednesday, June 28, 2023, by the German Bishops' Conference and the 27 dioceses in Germany. Catholics now make up only 24.8 percent of the total population (20,937,590 out of 84.5 million). The number of members of the Evangelical Church has also declined, to 19.1 million in 2022, or 22.60 percent.
In 2021, of the 83.2 million total population, Catholics accounted for 25.96 percent (21.6 million), while members of the evangelical church amounted to 23.68 percent (19.7 million).
With these figures, the total number of Christians in Germany has again decreased from 41.30 million (49.36 percent) to 40.1 million (48.87 percent). Of course, when comparing percentages, it must also be taken into account that migrants of religions other than Christianity play an important role in the increase of the total German population (from 83.2 million in 2021 to 84.5 million in 2022).
Increase in the reception of sacraments after Covid
Turning to the figures for the Catholic Church, a slight increase in the reception of the sacraments can be seen, once the COVID pandemic is officially over: Sunday Mass attendance rises to 5.7 percent (2021: 4.3 percent).
If 141,992 baptisms were administered in 2021, in 2022 there were 155,173. 162,506 children received First Communion (2021: 156,574) and 110,942 young people received Confirmation (2021: 125,818).
A significant increase has occurred in the number of canonical marriages: from 20,140 in 2021 to 35,467 in 2022. As for canonical burials, the figures have remained virtually unchanged: 240,144 compared to 240,040 in the previous year.
For years, the German dioceses have been concentrating their parishes, which has led to a decrease in the number of parishes from 9,790 in 2021 to 9,624 in 2022. A total of 11,987 priests live in Germany (2021: 12,280), of whom 6,069 work in parish ministry (2021: 6,215). The number of permanent deacons has also decreased: from 3,253 in 2021 to 3,184 last year. The number of priestly ordinations in 2022 amounted to 45 (33 diocesan priests and 12 religious), three less than in 2021.
