And the Rhine flowed into the Tiber

Graph showing that the catastrophic decline in the German Church started well-before the Council and that the Council had almost zero effect on Church attendance. It just kept on plumeting at the same rate.

This is in marked contrast to almost every other Catholic country where the figures went up right until the Council, peaked in the mid-60s and then went into steady freefall.

Seems that not for the first time in history, the Germans were exporting something that the rest of the world had to suffer for.

The classic history of the influence of German theologians, Joseph Ratzinger among them, at the Council.

Ironically, God-willing, it is a German Pope who will provide the antidote. He carries the solution deep in his soul.