Germany, the Church generates more revenue but is now (almost) devoid of faithful. Greetings Synodalism, goodbye Catholicism

The beginnings of the Church in Germanic lands can be traced back to the tireless work of a British priest and future martyr, Saint Boniface. He was personally commissioned by the Pope to evangelize those still pagan lands. And indeed, he did an excellent job, driven by a solid faith and an equally robust nature. There is no trace in the stories and legends about him of budgets and taxes exacted upon the conversion of the peasants who, struck by the message of salvation from the one Christ, sought Baptism. Certainly, beyond a facile "nostalgia operation," whereby none of us modern Europeans could replicate the mission of the first bishop of Germany in style and time, it is striking that contemporary German faithful are required to pay a church tax as a prerequisite for accessing the sacraments. This tax revenue has provided substantial economic wealth to the German dioceses and, despite the continued and unstoppable abandonment of the faith by the country's Catholics, actually saw a significant increase last year.

On the website Pillarcatholic, an American information site on the Catholic Church, we read that "Church authorities announced on July 4 that the 27 dioceses received a total of 6.62 billion euros (about 7.8 billion dollars) through church tax in 2024, compared to 6.51 billion euros (about 7.6 billion dollars) in 2023." This increase did not prevent the German Bishops' Conference from acknowledging the true trend underway and its impact on the financial balance sheets of the apparatus. Beate Gilles, general secretary of the German Bishops' Conference, declared on July 7 that Church officials must make "drastic cuts" to the spending of a common fund known as the Association of German Dioceses, citing a declining number of Catholics and a projected decline in Church tax revenues. "Given the declining number of faithful and the projected decline in Church tax revenues, ambitious cost-cutting measures are necessary for the Church in Germany. This also concerns the German Bishops' Conference," she stated.

In 2024, however, another 321,611 Catholics will formally leave the Church; thousands more will no longer pay any contributions to the dioceses. At this moment, therefore, we are witnessing a paradox whereby the continued hemorrhage of faithful is accompanied by an increase in revenues. This temporary paradox has not stopped the leaders of the Association of German Dioceses, the VDD, from announcing drastic cuts to the resources allocated to various projects and beneficiaries. The VDD is the legal entity of the German Bishops' Conference, uniting the country's 27 economically independent dioceses to finance joint projects. Among these is the controversial—and questionable—synodal path.

One of the many indicators of that openness that too many still insist on believing is necessary to make the Christian message appealing. The decline in German faithful, alas, continues to confirm the opposite: it's not exaggerated progressivism, it's not the complex pastoral projects designed to chase the world and bring sheep back to the fold, it's not "openness." What's missing is not listening to the world, perhaps, but to Christ and faith in Him, who in and of himself needs no adaptation, embellishment, or camouflage to be recognized and loved (or hated. It is God Himself who respects and encourages our freedom). And so the winds of secularization in Germany, as in many other countries with a long Catholic tradition, blow almost unchecked. An “almost” that leaves all the room for action to another wind, that of the Spirit.

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