According to abuse reports: sometimes three times as many people left the church

Created: 01/27/2022, 11:25 am

By: Max Wochinger

Many believers are now turning their backs on their church.

© Ingo Wagner/dpa

The abuse report shook the church.

Many citizens draw their conclusions and turn their backs on the church.

The number of people leaving the church is sometimes three times as high.

District

– A week ago, an expert opinion on sexual abuse in the church became public.

Since then, numerous citizens in the district of Munich have left the church.

Some communities are reporting record numbers.

The report on sexual violence in the Archdiocese of Munich and Freising shook Germany.

The lawyers who wrote the report accuse the emeritus Pope Benedict of not taking action against pedophiles and sex offenders during his time as Munich cardinal.

The Munich I public prosecutor's office is currently examining 42 cases of alleged misconduct by those responsible in the church.

This is how leaving the church works

Citizens wishing to leave the church must present identification to the registry office and sign a statement.

This is only possible in person.

Leaving the church costs 35 euros.

The registry office then sends a message to the registration office and the finance and church tax office.

The report is now leading to a wave of exits in the Munich district. In the days following the publication of the report on January 20, 25 applications to leave the church were received in Unterschleißheim. A spokesman for the city said that 20 members belonged to the Catholic Church and five to the Protestant Church. For comparison: In January 2021 there were a total of 31 people who left the church in Unterschleißheim. The abuse report is apparently a fire accelerator.

In Unterhaching there have been 24 withdrawals from the Catholic Church since last Thursday, the community said.

"In comparison, there are three times more exits than in January 2021 in the entire month," said a spokeswoman.

However, there are always such peaks, for example when citizens receive their church tax assessments.

In total, there are almost 9,000 members of the Catholic Church in the 26,500-inhabitant community.

The municipality of Haar reported 13 people leaving the Catholic Church as of Monday afternoon.

"The exit numbers are higher than in the past," said a community spokeswoman.

In the university town of Garching, seven declarations of resignation were received by Tuesday.

In the same period in 2021, it was only two exits, a spokesman said.

More news from the district of Munich can be found here.