Originally published at The Catholic Thing
For the first time in more than a century, fewer than 20 million Catholics live in Germany, according to the 2024 Church statistics published by the German Bishops’ Conference. The total number of Catholics in Germany is 19,769,237, of which only 6.6 percent — just over 1.3 million Catholics — practice their faith and regularly attend Mass on Sundays. In 2024, the Church recorded more than 321,000 resignations (i.e., people asking the government to cease deducting Germany’s church tax from their income), and just 6,600 new members came into the Church.
