Nuremberg (dpa / lby) – According to figures from the German Bishops’ Conference, more people than ever have left the Catholic Church in the past year. The churches want to enter into dialogue with them and with those who are considering leaving. According to its own statements, the Diocese of Trier was the first diocese to set up a complaints office in 2013, through which people could speak to employees about their leaving the church, thoughts about it and disappointments. In Paderborn and Regensburg, too, the Catholic Church seeks contact with doubting believers in order to find out more about their motives or to advise them.
Andrea Keinath from the Archbishop’s General Vicariate in Paderborn reports that it is mostly people between the ages of 60 and 70 who have struggled with themselves for a long time. “They make it clear that they can no longer identify with the institution, but that the step of leaving the church hurts them and that they want to hold on to their faith.” It’s about understanding these people.
In Nuremberg, the Jesuit Father Ansgar Wiedenhaus would like to support the faithful when they are toying with the idea of ??leaving. He doesn’t want to stop them from doing this, but rather to accompany them on their way, he says. “My job is that it will be a good decision.”
