Munich, Germany, Aug 18, 2016 / 14:15 pm
Never before have so few Catholic priests been ordained in the Church in Germany: a total of 58 men joined the clergy in 2015, according to official figures published by the German Episcopal Conference this week.
Within the last decade, the number of ordinations has dropped by half. In 2005, a total of 122 diocesan priests were ordained. Five decades ago, in 1965, the number was 500.
While there were almost 20,000 Catholic priests in Germany in 1990, today their number has already dropped to 14,000. The drastic decline is set to continue, judging by the figures: last year also marked the first time in history that the number of new seminarians dropped to double digits. Only 96 new students were registered in 2015. At the same time, 309 priests passed away, and 19 left the priesthood.
The crisis of vocations to the priesthood is not just one of sheer numbers. A recent academic study showed that amongst the current clergy, more than half – 54 percent – go to confession only "once a year or less."