Over 200 parishes have closed in German diocese

  • Thread starter Thread starter _Abyssinia
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
Obviously they are great leaders of the faith and we should follow their example, amirite?
 
That’s really, really sad. 😦

I’m betting that declining priestly vocations have just as much (or more) to do with all the closings as the declining numbers of the faithful.
 
Many Church closures can be attributed to the fact that when they were built people travelled on foot or by horse and wagon so that every little town had a church to serve the close vicinity. It could take hours to travel what we now consider a relatively short distance. Today people can easily travel much greater distances in a very short period of time so there is no longer a need for every little village and town to have a church. The same goes for schools, hospitals and police and fire stations etc.

A days journey back when those churches were built not takes us about 15 minutes.
 
Germany keeps track of religious affiliation and for a number of years now both those who declare themselves Catholic and those who identify as Lutheran has been falling significantly.

Its not just Germany - in Brazil the Catholic population has collapsed and is hovering just over 50%. In the Philippines and Viet Nam the Catholic populations are falling as a percent of the population.

Even in the US growing areas like the Bay Area have seen parish closings.

This started long ago for a number of reasons and, IMO, would have occurred even if V2 did not happen. The rapid secularization of the West has been unstoppable and only a few groups like the LDS have been able to grow substantially despite the secularization…

One pet peeve I have is that the number of Catholics is listed at 1.1 billion or so but that is overstated as the numbers they show for Brazil are based on figures from years ago. The large fall-off in Europe and Central/South America never seems to be adjusted into the church membership numbers.
 
ctb95 said:
I’m betting that declining priestly vocations have just as much (or more) to do with all the closings as the declining numbers of the faithful.
Click to expand...
I would think that those two issues are intimately connected.

I’ve seen it where I’m from in PA. People don’t go to church, don’t donate, don’t encourage vocations in their kids, are barely associated with the church in anyway but get super super upset when the parish their grandparents went to closes.
 
In Germany (as well as some other European countries) people have to pay a “church tax” if they belong to a church, either protestant or Catholic. If you drop out of your church you no longer have to pay that tax. Could this be the reason for the large number of people leaving churches in Germany?
 
RCbkr said:
In Germany (as well as some other European countries) people have to pay a “church tax” if they belong to a church, either protestant or Catholic. If you drop out of your church you no longer have to pay that tax. Could this be the reason for the large number of people leaving churches in Germany?
Click to expand...
True about the tax, but its been in place for a long time. The departures from both the Catholic and Lutheran churches are a more recent phenomena.

Brazil has no such tax so other factors are in play there - though the tax really is not the key factor in the German situation IMO… There is religious growth in Brazil, but its the Pentecostals and Muslims that are winning converts. The other factor is the rapid growth of the non-religious segment of Brazil’s population.
 
It amazes me why this is so hard for Church leaders to figure out. People go to Churches to escape secular culture, get guidance on moral issues, life questions. If you blend the Church with the secular culture, people STOP going to Church - what is the point. We see this again and again and again and again.

I also suspect with Europe anyway, where Christianity has been so dead for so many (the mainstream) for centuries now, that it is kind of a rare bird who goes into the Church as a priest (or laity for that matter - what is it like under 10% of the population) and it is not always due to orthodox faith. The Church is just kind of an NGO for intellectual liberal souls. Well meaning in an NGO way - but not particularly rigid or committed to dogma. To borrow from the current hip jargon. Just my opinion. I love it when a Benedict or Mueller shows up though obviously but I think they are in the minority - just look at AL, Kasper etc. - then look at Africa or even America. I am quite proud of my country in this regard - at least the orthodox side is well-established, very committed, vocal. I see this as ‘life’ in the Church.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top