More than 400,000 people left the Catholic Church in Germany in 2023 according to latest figures by the Bishop’s Conference.
The staggering figure is the second highest after the record of 522,821 set in 2022. A total of 1,779,014 people have said they officially left the Church in Germany since 2019.
There were 20.3 million Catholics in Germany at the end of 2023, representing 24 per cent of the total population of 84.7 million.
The hardest-hit archdiocese is Cologne, where nearly 41,000 people left, down from over 51,000 the previous year.
Cologne vicar general Msgr. Guido Assmann expressed a degree of relief at the new statistics.
“The trend that we Catholics are becoming fewer has continued,” he told the German Catholic news website domradio.de.
“Nevertheless, there is also the positive development that the number of people leaving the Church has decreased compared to the previous period.”
To leave the Church in Germany, a baptised Catholic must book an appointment at a local registry office or court and pay about £27. They then receive a certificate confirming they are no longer registered and will now be exempt from the Church tax.
They also get a letter from Church officials stating they can no longer receive sacraments, hold Church posts, or serve as sponsors for baptisms or confirmations.
Reacting to the figures, the German bishops’ conference chairman, Bishop Dr. Georg Bätzings, said the numbers are “an indicator of reality”.
“We have to be honest and perceive developments," he said. “Reality is not an enemy and is more friendly than hostile to the Church.”
"As a Church, we have the mission to proclaim the good news of the loving, creative and liberating God, to live it and to pass it on. This mission remains. Therefore, initiatives are needed that offer people faith in complete freedom. And reforms are needed that might lead people to regain confidence in the Church's ability to change.
“Reforms alone will not solve the Church crisis, but the crisis will worsen without reforms. And that is why changes are necessary," Bishop George added.
The Protestant Church in Germany (EKD), a federation of 20 Lutheran, Reformed, and United regional churches, announced in May that it lost 380,000 members in 2023.