Hundreds of thousands have turned their backs on the Catholic Church in recent years. The Church cannot leave this unconcerned, warns the Chairman of the Bishops’ Conference, Georg Bätzing.
The chairman of the German Bishops’ Conference, Georg Bätzing, is calling for courage to change in light of the hundreds of thousands of people who have left the church in recent years. “We all have to ask ourselves the question: How do faith, the Catholic Church, church commitment and secularism fit together in a liberal society? And how do we hopefully not keep getting further apart,” said Bätzing at the start of the four-day autumn plenary assembly of the bishops in Fulda. This is the future task that the Catholic Church in particular must face up to.
People leaving the church are a constant issue. “We cannot simply ignore this. Quite the opposite, it must wake us up.”
Dioceses feel financial impact
The Secretary General of the German Bishops’ Conference, Beate Gilles, added that the resignations are having a very significant financial impact on the dioceses. Many budgets need to be cut. “We notice that in many consultations the question is what makes sense in terms of content, but also what can we shoulder together in the future,” she reported.
Dealing with this is a challenge, especially for the Bishops’ Conference. The association of German dioceses is a system based on solidarity. It is important to continue to work well together in this regard and to remain in solidarity.
Source: Stern
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