Church
Exit record among Catholics – Marx: “What can I do?”
Cardinal Reinhard Marx from Munich is “deeply moved” by the number of departures. photo
© Sven Hoppe/dpa
The exit numbers for 2022 are a disaster for the Catholic Church in Germany. Cardinal Reinhard Marx is moved – and is looking for answers.
In view of the high number of people leaving the church, Cardinal Reinhard Marx expressed his deep concern. “I am deeply moved by this week’s news,” said the archbishop of Munich and Freising, according to the announcement, at a solemn service in which he ordained three priests.
As a bishop, he cannot and should not simply put off leaving the church. “I ask myself: What can I do? What is my task? What is our task, our joint work?”
Marx said he was very concerned if church services were perceived as weak and boring. He clarified: “Liturgy is not made, fabricated – it is celebrated.”
More than half a million leaked
There are no simple answers, but tasks. An important task for all those who have been baptized and confirmed is to answer the question in a convincing manner: “Why am I a Christian? And what does that mean?” The church must show what that means. Marx said he expected the “shape of the church” to change. But: “The core will remain: that we are seekers of God.”
On Wednesday, the German Bishops’ Conference (DBK) published dramatic exit numbers from the perspective of the Catholic Church. More than half a million people left the Catholic Church in Germany in 2022. That is more than ever before and significantly more than in the previous record year 2021. At that time, 359,338 Catholics had turned their backs on their church.
Communication of the DBK Communication Marx