Friday, July 29, 2011

Record Number of Germans Quit Catholic Church; Fifty Percent Leave Due to Sex Abuse Scandal

The Catholic Culture website reports today (July 29, 2011) that the number of German Catholics dropping their registration in the Catholic Church jumped by almost 50 percent in 2010.

Analysts tie the increase to the emergence of the sex-abuse scandal in Europe.

Official figures showed 181,000 people (up from 124,000) leaving the Church last year. German citizens who are enrolled in a church pay a portion of their taxes to that church, so the parish membership figures also have obvious implications for church finances.

Catholics now number 24.6 million in Germany, accounting for just over 30 percent of the German population.

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