Even though the Catholic Church continues to grow worldwide, the latest annual report from the German bishops’ conference makes grim reading. The detailed figures it contains illustrate the Church’s continuing decline in one of its historic powerhouses, and the problems in Germany are replicated across most of Europe.
None of the indicators are encouraging. Although weekly Mass attendance has held steady over the past year, it remains at a mere 10.9 per cent – not much higher than supposedly more secular countries like France. This ranges from a high of 21 per cent in the tiny eastern diocese of Görlitz to below nine per cent in the large dioceses of Aachen, Essen and Hildesheim. The figures are a little higher in eastern Germany, where Catholics are a small minority and have a more recent history of persecution, but they are low everywhere. It must be assumed that only a small percentage of Germany’s 24 million Catholics are active.
