“Nobody expected this”

More and more people stay away from churches © Benjamin Haas (shutterstock)

Interviewer: High numbers were already to be expected or did you expect different numbers?

Karin Kortmann (Vice President of the Central Committee of German Catholics): We were all looking forward to these figures, but we did not expect them to be so brutal. I mean, if the result is that the church has lost its meaning and value for the shaping of their lives for more than a quarter of a million people who have been Catholic believers up to now, then this is a dramatic development that is taking place. All these effects often come a little later. When does someone consciously resign and say, "I've had enough now??

The loss of trust, which was already determined by the sexual abuse years ago, continues because one still does not trust this church that it regulates it well and that the consequences are also recognizable. Anyone who works in the field of large-scale organizations such as political parties or unions knows that once trust has been lost, it cannot simply be restored. There must come already the large throw, so that one turns again gladly to this organization. Clear perspectives are missing. The Catholic Church is suffering from this dilemma.

Interviewer: The reason for the high numbers of people leaving is an alienation with the life of faith in the churches, says the president of the Bishops' Conference, Bishop Batzing. It sounds as if these figures are a sign of social change. Do you also believe that?

Kortmann: Church deliberately says: We are part of society. We help shape the church. You have to look at a few things more closely. One is that we still have an eastern, western and southern church. The degree of organization of Catholics in the East is at most 9 percent. The highest approval rates are in the dioceses of Regensburg and Passau, with 66 to 90 percent. And in between, much is changing. If you break the current numbers down by state, Bavaria tops the list, with 78.309 people have left, followed by NRW with 67.874 and in third place Baden-Wurttemberg with 44.176 resignations.

This means that the church is losing its core Catholics in the federal states, which are very Catholic. This is the alarm signal. If in the order Munich-Freising is in front, then Cologne, Freiburg, Rottenburg-Stuttgart comes, we see: The erosion goes once across the whole church people. The people are no longer willing to simply hope that something will change, but they want to see the consequences of what has been the situation within the church for years. Questions arise such as: How can parish life be reactivated?? Why are there XXL congregations?? Why is it so difficult to reach priests who have a prominent role in pastoral care?? This process of erosion within the church does not lead to trust and confidence.

Interviewer: This process of erosion within the church is being experienced not only by the Catholic Church, but also by the Protestant Church, with equally high numbers of people leaving the church. People are probably not leaving the Catholic Church because they criticize celibacy or the role of women in the Catholic Church. Can people no longer do anything with the religious life in the churches?

Kortmann: It does not reare me when I look at the evangelical figures, but I ask myself: What do we do better, so that we achieve what we actually stand for?? On the one hand, this already shows that religious commitment is declining overall. We see this with sacrament giving: Fewer children are being baptized, fewer church weddings are taking place, there are fewer First Communion children. But also the catholic burials have decreased by almost 10 percent. This shows something of this vulnerability, and that older people and not only young people are asking what the church offers them, what value and meaning they see in it, what is being lost to them.

My plea is to always be present, not to rely on these XXL congregations alone, people need quick contact routes, the offers must be communicated more clearly, the personnel offer must be checked whether it is still suitable for today's time. The church must also be there where people need help. In the Corona period, pastoral care, as we have always perceived it up to now, being there from person to person, charity, solidarity, participation, all that has suffered. Last year's numbers are being perpetuated again this year in a different form. That is why we urgently need change.

Interviewer: It is precisely these changes that the Synodal Way is concerned with. The Catholic Church has set out to regain trust. But there are critics who say that somehow you're just wasting your time. People fight about church-political topics from the inner world of the church. The masses out there are not interested at all. This discussion has meanwhile completely bypassed society. Would you agree??

Kortmann: No, not at all. After all, I belong to the presidium of the Synodal Way, because I am convinced that we need the. We need it in order to reach an agreement between personalities in church life, the ZdK and its member organizations, and the Bishops' Conference on which reform processes are pending. We can't put this off for a long time. The synodal journey is an internal church process. In this respect, most of the faithful are probably not interested at all.

But the expectation of the people that something has to change is taken seriously by 250 delegates. We are on the move with good ideas and progressive considerations and will also make clear at the beginning of September at five regional conferences where we see the prere for change and that we must not wait within the German church, but also within the universal church. Who really still wants to see a future in this church, that engages itself. We also see how many continue to do so. But whoever thinks that we can stand all this any longer has not recognized the signs of the times.