Only 29 new priests were ordained for Germany’s 27 Catholic dioceses in 2024 — a record low for the Church in the country.
The figure was released this week by the German bishops’ conference, which also announced that 321,611 Catholics formally left the Church last year, bringing the total number of Catholics in Germany under 20 million.
The number of ordinations to the diocesan priesthood has declined steadily in Germany since 1962, when there were 557. But the annual figure has never fallen below 30 before.
Twenty years earlier, in 2004, there were 122 new priests. Ten years ago, in 2014, there were 75. In 2022, there were 33, and in 2023, there were 35.
Eleven of Germany’s 27 dioceses had no priestly ordinations last year, including Limburg, which is led by German bishops’ conference chairman Bishop Georg Bätzing. The Limburg diocese also had no new priests in 2023.
Commenting on statistics showing that 10,800 Catholics formally disaffiliated in his diocese in 2024, Bätzing said: “We must not close our eyes to these figures. They challenge us to ask anew: Who are we there for as a Church?”
“The good news has not diminished — but it must be brought to people in a different and credible way. That is why we need new paths, courageous steps, and above all the firm will to orientate ourselves toward reality.”
Also recording no new priests for the second year running was the Diocese of Münster, which overtook the Archdiocese of Cologne as Germany’s most populous diocese in 2024. The Münster diocese, which is a suffragan of the Cologne archdiocese and is split into two parts geographically, is located in northwestern Germany. It currently has no bishop, following the March 9 resignation of Bishop Felix Genn, days after he reached the typical retirement age of 75.
The German dioceses with the highest number of new priests in 2024 were Trier, with four, and Augsburg, Cologne, Paderborn, and Regensburg with three each.
Direct comparisons with other countries are difficult due to different methods of estimating the total Catholic population. In neighboring France, 73 men were expected to be ordained to the diocesan priesthood in 2024. In neighboring Poland, 153 men were scheduled to become priests. But France and Poland arguably have a considerably higher overall population of Catholics than Germany.
According to the German bishops’ conference, 47 new candidates for the diocesan priesthood were admitted in 2024, down from 54 in 2023.
The sharp decline in diocesan priests is one of the factors that triggered the launch of Germany’s controversial “synodal way,” which brought together bishops and select lay people from 2019 to 2023 to discuss radical changes to Catholic teaching and practice.
The initiative produced 150 pages of resolutions, including several touching on the priesthood. Synodal way participants endorsed texts calling for women deacons, a re-examination of priestly celibacy, and lay preaching at Masses, as well as a greater lay role in choosing bishops and Church governance.
The initiative has exposed divisions among Germany’s bishops and created tensions with the Vatican.
Hundreds of thousands of Catholics formally disaffiliate from the Church in Germany every year in the wake of a devastating abuse crisis and amid advancing secularization.
To formally leave the Church, a baptized Catholic must book an appointment at a local registry office or court, provide official documents, and pay a fee of around $35. They are given a certificate confirming they are no longer registered and therefore not liable for the country’s church tax.
They also receive a letter from local Church officials, informing them they can no longer receive the sacraments, hold Church posts, or serve as baptismal or confirmation sponsors.
Church “exits” may have reached a peak in 2022, when more than half a million Catholics formally disaffiliated. In 2023, the figure fell to 402,694.
The further drop in 2024, to 321,611, may offer hope to Germany’s embattled Church leaders that the disaffiliation rate is starting to fall.
For the first year since 2018, more Protestants than Catholics formally disaffiliated in 2024.
The Protestant Church in Germany, a federation of 20 Lutheran, Reformed, and United regional churches, announced March 27 that it lost around 345,000 members in 2024.
At the end of 2024, there were 19.8 million Catholics and almost 18 million Protestants in Germany, out of an overall population of around 84 million.
The German bishops’ conference said that on average, 1.3 million Catholics regularly attended Mass, or 6.6% of the Catholic population.
The bishops’ conference said there was a “slight decline” in the administration of the sacraments in 2024.
There were 116,222 baptisms, down from 131,245 in 2023, while 22,504 church weddings took place, a decrease from 27,565 in 2023.
The number of First Communions increased marginally, while there was a small decline in Confirmations.
In 2024, 1,839 people joined the Catholic Church in Germany, up from 1,559 in 2023. The vast majority — 1,637, or 85% — were from a Protestant background.
