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https://www.dw.com/en/germanys-protestant-and-catholic-churches-predicted-to-lose-millions-of-members/a-48578035Published by: DW on 2 May 2019
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Germany's Catholic and Protestant churches may lose half their members by 2060, according to a study. A drop in membership is expected to lead to a major budget shortfall. The number of members belonging to Germany's two main churches will drop by half by 2060, putting severe financial strain onthe religious institutions, according to a study published Thursday.
The main reasons for declining membership in the German Catholic and Protestant churches include adults leaving the church, fewer baptisms and an aging population, researchers at the University of Freiburg said.
Read more: The main differences between Catholics and Protestants
The study, which was commissioned by the Catholic German Bishops Conference and the Evangelical Church in Germany (EKD), predicted the combined membership in the two churches will drop from about 45 million now to 34.8 million by 2035 and 22.7 million by 2060.
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Who are DW Documentary?DW.com is the official website of Deutsche Welle (DW), Germany's public, state-owned international broadcaster. Headquartered in Bonn and Berlin, DW serves as an independent, multilingual media outlet providing unbiased global news, regional reporting, and deep-dive analysis in 32 languages.
Who is a Protestant?Protestantism is the second largest form of Christianity with collectively more than 900 million adherents worldwide or nearly 40% of all Christians. It originated with the Reformation, a movement against what its followers perceived to be errors in the Roman Catholic Church. Ever since, Protestants reject the Roman Catholic doctrine of papal supremacy and sacraments, but disagree among themselves regarding the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist. They emphasize the priesthood of all believers, justification by faith alone (sola fide) rather than by good works, and the highest authority of the Bible alone (rather than with sacred tradition) in faith and morals (sola scriptura). The "Five solae" summarize basic theological differences in opposition to the Roman Catholic Church.
What is Catholic?The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church. This is the largest Christian church, with approximately 1.3 billion baptised Catholics worldwide, as of 2016. As one of the oldest religious institutions in the world, it has played a prominent role in the history and development of Western civilisation. The church is headed by the Bishop of Rome, known as the Pope. Its central administration, the Holy See, is in the Vatican City, an enclave within Rome, Italy. Catholic theology is based on the Nicene Creed.
What is Germany?Germany is a country in Central and Western Europe. Covering an area of 357,022 square kilometres (137,847 sq mi), it lies between the Baltic and North seas to the north, and the Alps to the south. It borders Denmark to the north, Poland and the Czech Republic to the east, Austria and Switzerland to the south, and France, Luxembourg, Belgium and the Netherlands to the west.
What is the Church?A church is a building used for Christian worship services and Christian activities. The earliest identified Christian church is a house church founded between 233 AD and 256 AD. The word church also describes a body or assembly of Christian believers, while "the Church" refers to the worldwide Christian religious community.
