DAccording to the chairman of the German Bishops' Conference, Georg Bätzing, the two large churches are in dramatic decline. “The loss of members is rapid, the social significance is dwindling,” stated the Bishop of Limburg, according to the text of the speech that was distributed in advance, in his New Year’s Eve sermon on Sunday evening in Frankfurt am Main. “Our country is becoming more secular, and the majority of the population can hardly be approached religiously.”
Bätzing was referring to the study on church membership published this year, for which more than 5,000 people were surveyed. “Only 48 percent of the population in our country belong to one of the two large churches,” summarized Bätzing. “The criticism of the church as an institution is confirmed, but at the same time the thesis is refuted, according to which people take their religiosity out of the churches and into their private lives, so to speak.” Lived faith outside of the churches is virtually non-existent, religious convictions have to guide their lives there is almost no meaning anymore.
Don't trivialize developments
Only four percent of Catholic and six percent of Protestant believers stated in the study that they were closely connected to their church. “Trust, especially in the Catholic Church, has fallen enormously,” admitted Bätzing. “And almost half of Catholics are thinking about leaving the church, while only a third rule it out in principle. To suppress or trivialize such developments would be fatal.”
At second glance, the study also offers some encouraging results, says Bätzing. “What is astonishing to me is that half of all members of the Catholic Church volunteer – significantly more than average.” The approval of confirmation and first communion remains high. A third of the population attended a church daycare center. Church child and youth work services are still being used.
The study also shows that those who are still members expect the church to work against poverty and for justice, specifically for refugees. Church members also pushed for reforms. “It is not uncommon for me to hear critical voices say that a supposedly silent majority is skeptical about reform processes in the Catholic Church.” The survey proves the opposite: “An overwhelming proportion of 96 percent of Catholics say: “My church has to change fundamentally, if she wants to have a future.””
“Problems worsen when reforms are not implemented”
The most important topics included a positive approach to homosexuality, more participation for lay people, an abolition of compulsory celibacy for priests and stronger cooperation with the Protestant Church. “Reforms certainly do not solve all of the Catholic Church's problems, but these become worse if reforms are not implemented,” concluded Bätzing. Withdrawal has never been promising for the future – what the church needs is change.
In the Vatican, the head of the Catholic Church also commented on the turn of the year. At the solemn service on New Year's Eve, Pope Francis emphasized the importance of gratitude and hope with a view to the new year. Francis led the New Year's Eve service on Sunday evening and delivered the homily of the vespers service with the traditional hymn “Te Deum” in St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican. The faithful should live every day and every moment with gratitude and hope, the pontiff said. This is particularly important with a view to the new year.
Francis did not address the first anniversary of his predecessor's death at the New Year's Eve service. However, he did pay tribute to Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI during the traditional Angelus prayer at midday. He called on people in St. Peter's Square to applaud Benedict, saying: “We think of him with gratitude and admiration. He blesses us from heaven and accompanies us.” Benedict XVI, born Joseph Ratzinger in Marktl in Bavaria in 1927, died in the Vatican on December 31, 2022 at the age of 95.
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