religion
Bishop Bätzing: “Faith in God is threatening to evaporate”
Bishop Georg Bätzing sees the Christian faith in the population on the decline. photo
© Robert Michael/dpa
The exit numbers for 2022 were a disaster for the Catholic Church in Germany. Bishop Bätzing hopes that if the church is the bearer of the social network, it could be saved.
According to the words of the chairman of the German Bishops’ Conference, religion and church in Germany are Georg Bätzing, on the retreat. “The trend towards de-churching, which has been creeping in for many decades, has gained massive momentum,” said the Catholic bishop after preparing the text of his speech in front of 500 guests from the church, politics and the media at the St. Michael’s annual reception in Berlin.
And it’s not just the connection with the church that is dwindling, but also faith itself. “Faith in God is threatening to evaporate,” said Bätzing. “The ability of the church to win people over to the gospel and give direction decreases with every generation.”
The church of earlier times, in which belief in God and church membership were automatically passed on from one generation to the next, no longer exists. As a consequence, the church has to break new ground today if it wants to play a role at all.
Concrete deeds for fellow human beings are decisive, and that is why it is important that the churches remain as carriers of the social network in Germany. Despite all the difficulties, they could still contribute to “keeping this society together and limiting the influence of misanthropic ideologies”.