The number of Germans leaving the Roman Catholic Church rose dramatically in 2010 as Pope Benedict XVI’s homeland wrestled with reports of systematic sexual abuse of minors and attempted cover-ups, according to a study by a German newspaper.
About 180,000 Catholics officially ended their church affiliation in 2010, a rise of 50,000 (or 40 percent) from 2009, according to the weekly Die Zeit newspaper.
Leaving the church not only means a drop in attendance but also a formal severing of relations; people who formally leave a church are no longer required to have part of their income diverted to the church as church tax.
If the figures were validated, then it would represent the first time since World War II that more Catholics than Protestants
left their church in a single year. (RNS)
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