According to a study, the Christian churches continue to lose social importance in view of the continuing decline in membership numbers. According to the survey, after dramatic numbers leaving the Protestant and Catholic Churches in recent years, many more people are toying with the idea of turning their backs on the institution.
The Catholic Church is disproportionately affected by exit considerations, according to the Bertelsmann Foundation’s “Religions Monitor 2023”. For this purpose, the Infas institute had representatively surveyed 4,363 people aged 16 and over nationwide.
Only 14 percent of the population attends a service at least once a month, even among church members it is only 17 percent. Almost one in four members (24 percent) stated in the survey in the summer of this year that they had considered leaving in the past twelve months. At the same time, 20 percent answered “yes” when asked whether leaving the church was “very” or “rather likely” for them. According to the survey published on Thursday, 41 percent of 16 to 25-year-olds had firm intentions to leave. Well over 80 percent of church members currently believe that one can also be a Christian without a church.
Catholics are particularly strangers to the church
The religion expert at the foundation, Yasemin El-Menouar, believes that the question can arise, particularly among passive church members, as to whether staying on is still justified in view of church taxes and critical discussions. Among the believers who are at odds with their church, Catholics are much more frequently represented than Protestants. According to the authors of the study, the “little willingness to reform in the Roman Curia” is probably reflected here.
And: “The abuse scandals and how they are dealt with, especially in the Catholic Church, have led to a loss of trust,” said El-Menouar of the German Press Agency. “The importance of the two churches is dwindling. In the future they will only represent a smaller part of the population,” she explained.
In 2021, 19.7 million people still belonged to the Protestant Church and almost 21.7 million to the Catholic Church. A study by the University of Freiburg predicts that both churches together will still have around 22 million members by 2060 – this corresponds to around a quarter of the population.
