650 Catholic churches closed since 2005 in Germany

An abandoned temple. Photo: artheroes

The Secretariat of the German Bishops' Conference explained that starting from 2005, 650 Catholic churches across the country "ceased to be used for worship", indicating a "veritable wave of secularization." From 2019 to 2023, an average of 28 churches were lost each year across Germany.

Church buildings are even being closed, downsized, or repurposed in the financially strapped dioceses of Aachen and Essen but also in traditionally Catholic areas, such as the diocese of Augsburg, where German bishops are currently holding their general assembly.

A few years ago, official church statistics counted 24,500 "sacred church buildings". Today, their number has dwindled to 24,000. A total of 650 Catholic churches have been closed since 2005. It is noted that Protestant churches are closed much less frequently.

In Germany, it is believed that the reduction in the number of places of worship keeps up with the trend whereby every year the Roman Catholic Church and Lutherans lose tens of thousands of parishioners. As of 2023, one in two Germans no longer belonged to either of the major Christian Churches.

Maintaining and heating a church building in Germany today costs approximately 100,000 euros. Despite the fact that currently about five to six percent of parishioners still attend Sunday services, their numbers are rapidly declining.

As it was reported earlier, in a German Catholic church, parishioners were given communion during the "Chicken Dance" performance.

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