Church – Freiburg im Breisgau – Significantly more church exits since the beginning of the year – Bavaria

Munich (dpa) – Since the beginning of the year, significantly more people have left the church than in previous years. This was the result of a survey by the German Press Agency among larger municipalities in Germany. Thousands turned their backs on the Church. One reason for this may be the report on cases of abuse in the Catholic Archdiocese of Munich and Freising, which was presented at the end of January and made headlines around the world.

The city of Munich alone recorded 9,074 people leaving the church by April 8, according to a spokesman for the district administration department. In the comparative period of 2021, there were just under 5,000. The respective denomination is not recorded.

But not only in Bavaria did people leave the church in droves in the first three months of the year, the trend is the same nationwide. In Cologne, the number of people leaving the church in the first quarter was 5,780; In 2021, on the other hand, there were only 3346 in the first three months.

In the Lower Saxony state capital of Hanover, 2,140 people turned their backs on their church by April 8, including 782 Catholics. In the corresponding period of the previous year there were 1669 people. In the two major Saxon cities of Dresden and Leipzig, significantly more people have left the church since the beginning of the year than in the same period last year.

On January 20, the law firm Westpfahl Spilker Wastl (WSW) presented an expert opinion on behalf of the Archdiocese of Munich and Freising. The experts assume at least 497 victims and 235 alleged perpetrators, but at the same time from a significantly higher number of unreported cases – and from the fact that Munich archbishops – including the later Pope Benedict XVI. – had behaved incorrectly in dealing with it.

© dpa-infocom, dpa:220415-99-927277/2

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