As of: January 31, 2024, 7:00 p.m
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Fewer people left the two large churches in 2024, but more than in 2021 - and the next wave of departures could hit the Protestant communities.
© Andrea Jaksch
Last year, 1,724 people in the district turned their backs on the two large Christian churches.
Compared to last year, the number is lower, but still higher than in 2021.
District – “Watch out, the church is a rotten thing,” Johannes Habdank’s grandma once said.
A sentence that the Protestant pastor von Berg now understands.
Other pastors in the district are also aware that the two Christian churches have a problem.
The Starnberger Merkur requested the current figures from the registry offices of the 14 municipalities.
Accordingly, 1,724 Catholic and Protestant Christians left the church last year.
In addition, the Protestant pastors expect further resignations - in response to the study by the current Protestant Church in Germany (EKD).
It sheds light on sexual abuse and assumes an estimated 9,355 cases in church and social welfare.
In the district town of Starnberg, a total of 313 people turned their backs on churches in 2023, which is 17.4 percent less than in the previous year, but still eleven percent more than in 2021. For Starnberg's Protestant pastor Simon Döbrich, it is a "round bouquet of reasons for leaving" , which he unravels.
The first reason is the church tax.
The pastor, who led the German-speaking Protestant community in Madrid for seven years, draws a comparison to Spain.
There is the mandate tax, where taxpayers can choose which institution - church, state or a non-profit association - their tax should benefit.
Spaniards cannot avoid church tax by leaving.
When you as a pastor have 10 or 15 resignations a month on the table, it's frustrating.
Simon Döbrich, Starnberg's Protestant pastor
Döbrich also speaks of the “return of investment” and explains: “People want to get something in return for the money they give up.”
Something the church cannot directly offer in material form.
Added to this is the “crisis of faith”.
Fewer and fewer people wanted to deal with faith and the question of faith and chose other paths.
Döbrich's next point – “de-churchification”, i.e. anger at the church.
“As a pastor, when you have 10 or 15 resignations a month on the table, it’s frustrating,” says the 46-year-old.
He criticizes the EKD study because it does not take a differentiated look at the respective regional churches.
He himself never saw the issue of abuse as a purely Catholic phenomenon.
“The church is a community that needs a will to change,” says Döbrich and appeals: “I ask people to walk this difficult path with us critically and constructively.
This is the only way the church can become a protective space.” The Protestant community in Starnberg is currently in the “second major round of austerity”.
30,000 euros were saved in 2022 and 2023.
Döbrich: “We can still manage it without letting the believers feel it.”
Resignations also cause financial difficulties
“It’s not the fault of the pastor or the community,” says the evangelical Berger pastor, Johannes Habdank, about the resignations.
Each of the 33 people in Berg who left last year received a letter asking why.
Habdank only gets around ten to 15 percent back.
But he finds that most people want to save church tax or are moving away from the faith.
“Disgusting and damaging” are the two words he finds for the current situation.
“We no longer need to elevate ourselves above the Catholic Church,” says Habdank.
The many cases of abuse among Protestants show him: "Celibacy is not the issue." The Berger pastor and graduate economist is "pissed off": "It destroys humanity when dealing with children." Holding a child in his arms at the confirmation camp, Because he is homesick, Habdank thinks the future will be difficult.
The number of people leaving is reflected in the church's financial resources.
According to Habdank, by the middle of the year there will only be six Protestant parishes on Lake Starnberg instead of the previous nine.
Because of the new job code, Johannes de Fallois, for example, has to say goodbye to Starnberg in June.
The position of Deacon Ralf Tikwe in the Feldafing-Pöcking parish was also eliminated.
In view of the declining number of theology students, there will also be problems with the next generation in the future.
Habdank wants to keep Berg as a “culturally open and socially committed community”.
He always wants to make it possible to have a wedding, baptism, conformation or funeral - without church membership.
In May 2023 he even traveled to Sardinia for a wedding.
“If people don’t come to us, we have to come to them.
We want to open up, not isolate ourselves,” he emphasizes.
“The church is no longer the people’s church”
The Catholic dean Simon Rapp, as pastor, looks after the entire eastern shore of Ammersee.
“The church is no longer the people’s church, if it ever was,” he says, addressing society’s lack of ties to the church today.
The Vatican has allowed the blessing of homosexual couples since December 2023.
A progress that goes against traditional teaching and, according to Rapp, therefore results in people leaving the church.
“Changes always lead to applause and resistance at the same time.” Contrary to other claims, Rapp emphasizes that the church does educational work by publishing abuse figures.
“The past is painful, but it is on the table.” The Catholic Church on Ammersee also has to save money - the Diocese of Augsburg has become more restrictive, especially in the area of real estate and construction, said Rapp.
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The church has a problem – a real one.
Dr.
Andreas Jall, Catholic priest in Starnberg
For Starnberg's Catholic priest Dr.
Andreas Jall is clear: “The church has a problem – and a real one.” He blames the high number of resignations primarily on the numerous cases of abuse.
For Jall, the processing was too hesitant.
Every year there were new reports that, in his opinion, “significant action should have been taken.”
Since each bishop is independent, the processing is different.
To protect against sexual violence, every parish in Germany must develop its own protection concept.
Anyone who wants to work in the Catholic Church must present their certificate of good conduct.
“We don’t show what we’re doing either, I’m sorry about that,” Jall regrets.
Celibacy and the pandemic are also aspects
When it comes to celibacy, the city priest first says: “The way of life we maintain offers incredible possibilities.
In this way, a pastor can give his whole heart to the church.” But the temptations have increased over time, which is why the reality is different.
Jall refers to statements from psychologists who found “stunted sexuality” in the crimes.
People with a pathological pedophile tendency looked for a field in which they could live it out.
This means that the perpetrators are to a certain extent attracted to the Catholic Church, explains Jall and adds: “We have to think about this way of life.”
The pandemic is also an aspect for Jall: People have realized that large celebrations like Christmas also take place without a church.
But the church cannot take place without people.
“Every parish in Starnberg will feel that the declining church tax revenue will have consequences,” emphasizes the city priest.
For example, the church can no longer help out financially at the Caritas Foundation's senior citizens' meeting.
“We used to be able to offset deficits with church tax.”
“I love my church,” says Jall.
“It was a process of recognizing that my church has a problem.” His forecast for the future: “A smaller but hopefully more credible church – that will be our path.”
BY PIA MAURER
By the way: Everything from the region is now also available in our regular Starnberg newsletter.
You can find even more current news from the Starnberg district at Merkur.de/Starnberg.