Religion - Larger cities continue to record church exits
The registry offices of Thuringia's larger cities have hardly recorded any increase in the number of people leaving the church so far this year.
In the state capital, with a population of around 215,500, there even appears to be a downward trend: By the cut-off date of December 15, 1040 people had left the church in Erfurt in the current year. In 2022, the registry office recorded 1115 resignations. A trend similar to Erfurt is also emerging in Gera, where 176 people had left the Protestant and Catholic churches by 15 December, slightly fewer than in the whole of 2022, when 193 people left.
In Weimar, the number of people leaving the church this year (278) has so far remained roughly the same as in 2022 (285). In Jena, around 570 people left the church in 2022. However, the city administration assumes that by the end of 2023 there will even be slightly more people leaving than in the previous year.
Reasons for the decision to leave
The city administration in Gera cited two main reasons why people there turned away from the church: By leaving, the church tax would no longer apply, and people were also reacting to the sexual assaults in the churches and how these were dealt with. Even if details of the reasons for the decision are not necessary, some of those affected cited their motivation, according to reports from Erfurt. There, people cited disappointment, for example, but also personal and financial reasons.
Not all cities break down resignations by denomination. The administrations also do not have data on the respective current membership figures of the churches.
Church figures
The major Christian churches themselves presented their latest membership figures in the summer. According to the German Bishops' Conference (DBK), the Catholic dioceses in Bavaria recorded 2662 resignations in 2022. This means that the number of Catholics across Thuringia fell to just 153,825. In 2021, the Catholic Church in Thuringia counted 1846 resignations.
Last year, 615,855 people belonged to the Protestant Church in Central Germany (EKM), which mainly comprises congregations in Saxony-Anhalt and Thuringia, but also some in Saxony and Brandenburg. The number fell by 21,794 church members compared to the previous year (2021: 637,649). According to the EKM, 9666 people left the church last year - compared to 7678 in 2021.
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- Despite the decline in church exits in smaller cities, the registry office in the city of Gera in Thuringia has seen a slight decrease in the number of people leaving the church this year, with 176 individuals resigning by December 15, compared to 193 in 2022.
- The city of Erfurt, another larger city in Thuringia, has also exhibited a downward trend in the number of people leaving the church this year, with 1040 individuals resigning by the cut-off date of December 15, a decrease from the 1115 resignations recorded in 2022.
- The city administration in Gera cited two main reasons for why people in the city were leaving the church: the elimination of church tax and the response to sexual assaults within the churches and how they were handled.
- In the city of Weimar, which is located in Thuringia, the number of people leaving the church this year (278) has remained roughly the same as in 2022 (285), while the city administration in Jena expects that by the end of 2023, there will be slightly more people leaving the church than in the previous year.
Source: www.stern.de
