Die katholische Kirche in Deutschland – Eine Bestandsaufnahme
In Germany, 60% of the population belong to a Christian church; every other of them is a Catholic. In spite of the separation between state and church, there is cooperation in social and cultural domains. A great challenge arises from the regressive number of priests which so far could be compensated to some extent by foreign priests and other pastoral ministries (permenant deacons, “Pastoralreferenten”, and “Gemeindereferenten”). However, new pastoral ways must be found to keep the Catholic Church in Germany vital and to prepare it for the future when the number of faithful and clergy will not necessarily go up, but rather continue going down.
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