The number of Catholic priests ordained in Germany has fallen to a new low, according to figures released by the German episcopal conference last week.
In 2015 just 58 men joined the priesthood; in 2005 the number was 112, and 50 years ago in 1965 there were 500. There are now just 1,400 Catholic priests in Germany, compared with 20,000 in 1990.
The situation is getting worse: last year saw the lowest ever number of new seminarians, for the first time down to double figures: only 96 began training. In the same year 309 priests died and a further 19 left the priesthood.
