The number of Catholic priests ordained in Germany has fallen to a new low, according to figures released by the German episcopal conference last week.
In 2015 just 58 men joined the priesthood; in 2005 the number was 112, and 50 years ago in 1965 there were 500. There are now just 1,400 Catholic priests in Germany, compared with 20,000 in 1990.
The situation is getting worse: last year saw the lowest ever number of new seminarians, for the first time down to double figures: only 96 began training. In the same year 309 priests died and a further 19 left the priesthood.
Church attendance has also dropped, from 18.6 per cent in 1995 to 10.4 per cent in 2015, while over the same period baptisms have fallen by over a third, from almost 260,000 to around 167,000. Despite these figures Catholicism is still the largest religious group in Germany – its 23.7 million Catholics comprise 29 per cent of the population.
Last year 2,685 people became Catholic and a further 6,474 reverted to Catholicism – but nearly 182,000 left the Church over the same period.
Germany has reorganised its ecclesiastical structure, doing away with traditional parishes and replacing them with larger “pastoral areas”. Lay people are taking an increasing role in Church administration. As in Britain, the homegrown clergy are being supplemented by foreign priests, mainly from Poland and India.
Cardinal Reinhard Marx of Munich and Freising, president of the conference, described the Church last month as a “strong force whose message is heard and accepted”. He said: “Pope Francis gives us courage … when he tells us that the way of the future Church is the way of a ‘synodal church’. That means all faithful are called upon, lay people and priests.”
Site of apparition becomes first US national shrine
Nearly 160 years ago, on October 9, 1859, Mary appeared to Adele Brise, a young Belgian immigrant living in Wisconsin.
Today, it is the only approved Marian apparition site in the United States. On August 15, the feast of the Assumption, the US bishops formally designated the Shrine of Our Lady of Good Help in Champion as a national shrine. More than 1,500 people attended the outdoor Mass, which was followed by the annual rosary procession around the shrine grounds.
“I am deeply thankful for the faith, devotion and unwavering commitment to all those who have been stewards and caretakers of the Shrine of Our Lady of Good Help for the past several generations,” Bishop L Ricken of Green Bay said during his homily.
“Each of them simply followed the whispers of their own deep faith and in doing so, preserved and advanced the shrine. They carried the inspiring story of Adele Brise, a young Belgian woman to whom the Blessed Mother appeared. They carried this message in their own hearts, passing it on from one generation to the next, freely sharing it with all who came seeking, searching and praying.”
Athlete pays tribute to clergy
A shot-putter who won a silver medal in Rio is a member of the Knights of Columbus who counts priests and Religious as his role models.
Joe Kovacs told Columbus magazine that the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart helped him a lot after the death of his father, helping him with “building things” for science fairs. “They weren’t just role models, they were friends – I consider them all part of my family.”
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