Pope Leo XIV said the Catholic Church can still recover in Germany if it abandons resignation and finds the missionary momentum needed to reconnect with a society increasingly distant from religious institutions. His remarks came on September 28, aboard the plane carrying him from Metz to Rome after concluding his trip to France, and followed another drop in the number of faithful and Mass attendance that does not reach 7% of Catholics.
Speaking to about 80 journalists, the pontiff rejected the idea that the German Church is doomed to disappear and cited the response of French Catholics as proof that there is still room for recovery. A German journalist asked him when he planned to visit the country and how he assessed two phenomena advancing in parallel: the loss of faithful and the growth of radicalized political forces. Leo XIV confirmed he had already received an official invitation, but clarified that no date has yet been set for the trip.
Referring to the Church’s decline, he recalled that France, too, had been portrayed for years as lost territory for Catholicism. His visit, however, drew hundreds of thousands of people and showed strong participation by young people, catechumens and new converts. Some 80,000 young people welcomed Leo XIV at the Stade de France, a mobilization the Pope presented as a sign of hope. «I believe that if we find the true missionary spirit and the right path forward, there are still a great many people in Germany who want to live and celebrate their Christian and Catholic faith,» he said.
The Catholic Church ended 2025 with 19.2 million members, equivalent to 23% of the German population. Only a year earlier it counted nearly 19.8 million, meaning it lost around 550,000 faithful in twelve months. More than 307,000 people formally requested to leave the institution, a decision that in Germany also means no longer paying the church tax. Income and rejoinings combined did not reach 8,000. Mass attendance fell to 6.8%.
The decline does not affect Catholicism alone, as Protestant churches ended 2025 with about 17.4 million members and the two main Christian confessions together accounted for just 43.8% of the population. Secularization, abuse cases and the loss of institutional trust accelerated a demographic process that had already been under way for several decades.
Context and relevance
The question posed on the plane also mentioned the rise of extremist parties and the risk they pose to the European consensus. Leo XIV considered it necessary to study whether there is any relationship between the weakening of traditional churches and the expansion of those forces, especially in regions where a sense of abandonment has gained strength. The Pope questioned that certain sectors present their nationalist positions as a defense of Christian tradition. That combination, he said, «does not constitute an authentic expression of Christianity,» a stance already held by Catholic and Protestant leaders in Germany in the face of the AfD’s growth.
According to Leo XIV, Gospel values should foster understanding and compassion rather than fuel hatred and division. Finally, he called on people of goodwill to take part in political processes and make decisions aimed at the common good, because extremist ideas can cause far greater harm than is currently perceived. The pontiff’s message underscores the urgency of a missionary and pastoral response to the decline in faithful and the rise of discourses that, in his view, distort the Gospel.
Original source: tageblatt.com.ar (published on October 1, 2026)
