Cologne, 27 June 2024 (dpa/MIA) - German Catholicism is in crisis as hundreds of thousands formally leave the institution each year, threatening to turn it into a "minority Church," an expert said on Thursday.

The number may have reduced last year compared to the previous year, but the trend is stark: In 2022, the number of people leaving was more than half a million, a dramatic negative record; In 2023, the figure was 402,694, the German Bishops' Conference announced in the city of Bonn on Thursday.

A total of 20.3 million people in Germany now belong to the Catholic Church. The number could fall below the 20-million mark for the first time in 2024.

For Church law expert Thomas Schüller one thing is certain: "The implosion of the Catholic Church into a minority church is irreversible."

Studies also confirm this. In 2019, a study by the University of Freiburg predicted that the number of Church members - Catholic and Protestant - would fall by half to just under 23 million by 2060.

"The figures are an indicator of reality," said Georg Bätzing, chairman of the German Bishops' Conference and bishop of Limburg.

"The figures are alarming. They show that the Church is in a comprehensive crisis," he said.

However, resignation, fear or withdrawal are the wrong responses, he stressed: "As a church, we have a mission to proclaim the good news of a loving, creative and liberating God, to live it and pass it on."

Reforms are also unavoidable, he said, but the following applies: "Reforms alone will not solve the Church crisis, but the crisis will worsen without reforms. And that is why changes are necessary."

The reasons for people leaving the Church vary, but the abuse scandal that has engulfed it are a major one, and avoidance of the government-levied tax on church members is another.

The main Protestant Church is faring no better: Around 380,000 members left it in 2023, the umbrella organization for the official German Protestant Church (EKD) announced last month. That was a similar number to the previous year. A total of 18.5 million people still belong to one of the 20 regional churches.

A church membership survey conducted by the EKD in 2023 revealed that 56% of the total German population now describe themselves as unreservedly non-religious.

Bishop Bätzing concludes: "The majority of the population is hardly approachable in terms of religion."

MIA file photo