Cologne.
A recent survey has shown that the number of people leaving the church in many cities in North Rhine-Westphalia continued to increase in 2022.
the number of church exits continued to increase in many North Rhine-Westphalian cities last year. This was the result of a survey by the “Kölnische Rundschau” (Friday) in large cities in North Rhine-Westphalia and at the district courts in the Rhineland.
According to this, a total of 2,409 people left the church in 2022, more than twice as many as in the previous year. The development in Düren was similarly clear: Compared to 2021, there was an increase of 95.8 percent to 2894 exits. In Düsseldorf, the number of exits was 9,653, 59.7 percent more than in the same year 2021. In Münster, it rose by 55.2 percent to 6,869.
155,322 people left the church in NRW in 2021.
In absolute figures, according to the survey, Cologne was ahead with 20,331 people leaving the church. Compared to 2021, this means an increase of five percent, the newspaper reported. The Bonn District Court also reported a rather moderate increase of 4.2 percent to 6146 cases. Other courts showed rates of increase of between 30 and 50 percent or more.
In 2021, 155,322 people left the churches in NRW.
Church membership is becoming less and less plausible for people, Petra-Angela Ahrens from the Social Science Institute of the Evangelical Church in Germany (EKD) told the newspaper. There is now a “pull effect”. “Particularly among younger people, we increasingly experience leaving the church on occasion that does not require a special reason such as church scandals or disappointing experiences, sometimes even in consultation with family members or friends,” reported the expert. Church membership has become “required to be justified”. (dpa)
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