Berlin, August 14, 2013
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| Regensburg Cathedral in Germany |
The Katholisch.de portal has published information on the numbers of parishes from different Dioceses which are being closed, with comments telling about difficulties that are appearing in the process of restructuring.
Discussion of the reform is once again becoming more topical in the Archdiocese of Berlin.
Critics of Cardinal Rainer Maria Woelki's plan suggesting the formation of about 30 parishes from 105 by 2020, believe that it is possible to solve the problem of shortage of priests if the compulsory celibacy is abolished and if Catholics who are not ordained priests are granted the possibility to distribute Communion at the Mass. Similar discussions are taking place in other Dioceses as well.
Another Diocese with a great number of closing parishes is the Diocese of Hessen. Here, over several years 259 parishes were united in 43 "pastoral communities". Nearly every fourth Church of this Diocese is no longer receiving financial support. Most of them will be sold and, therefore, desecrated. The largest communities of the Diocese number 116,000 believers.
The Gelsenkirchen Buer district presently has the largest community in Germany. It numbers 40,000 Catholics - more than the whole Diocese of Görlitz.
The Archdiocese of Koln reduced the budget by 90 million euro between 2004 and 2009. This became possible partly because 338 of 4500 archdiocese's established posts were abolished.Moreover, since 2008 the number of pastoral communities here has been reduced from 220 to 180.
From 2002 to 2006 in the Diocese of Fulda about 300 parishes were united into 43 pastoral communities. In the Diocese of Drezden-Meissen the number of communities has fallen from 123 to 100 since 2003.
In the Diocese of Görlitz the number of parishes has dropped from 47 to 20 over 10 years while the number of Churches where the Mass is served every Sunday has remained nearly the same.
689 parishes of the Diocese of Münster from 1999 to 2015 must be restructured to 190 parishes. The number of priests is to be reduced as well.
