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The annual number of priestly ordinations is expected to rise in Germany and fall in France in 2026.
A total of 30 new priests will be ordained for Germany’s 27 dioceses in 2026, up from 25 in 2025 and 29 in 2024, the German Catholic news agency KNA reported June 26.
A total of 84 new priests are projected to be ordained in France in 2026, down from 90 in 2025 and 105 in 2024, the French bishops’ conference announced June 25.
The two countries’ figures are not directly comparable, because the German statistics do not include priests ordained for religious orders. Over the past three years, the German Church has recorded an average of seven new religious priests.
Excluding religious priests from the French figures, there will be 66 new diocesan priests in 2026, up from 64 in 2025, but down from 73 in 2024.
France will have more than twice as many new diocesan priests as Germany in 2026. But there are considerably more baptized Catholics in France than in Germany, as well as a higher number
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