Roman Catholicism in Germany

The Catholic Church in Germany, part of the worldwide Catholic Church, is under the leadership of the Pope, assisted by the Roman Curia, and of the German bishops. The current "speaker" (i.e., the chairperson) of the episcopal conference is Cardinal Reinhard Marx, metropolitan Archbishop of Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Munich and Freising. Due to a church tax compulsory for those who register civilly as Catholics, it is the wealthiest part of the Catholic Church in Europe. It is divided into 27 dioceses, 7 of them with the rank of metropolitan sees. All the archbishops and bishops are members of the Conference of German Bishops.

Secularization has had its impact in Germany as elsewhere in Europe; nevertheless, 28.9% of the total population is Catholic (23.761 million people as of December 2015), down 4% compared to the year 2000. Before the 1990 unification of the Federal Republic of Germany (or West Germany) and the German Democratic Republic (or East Germany), Catholics were 42% of the population of West Germany. What makes it easier to know religious statistics in Germany is that Christian taxpayers must declare their religious affiliation as church tax is deducted by the State to be passed on to the relevant church in the state where the taxpayer lives.

Apart from its demographic weight, the Catholic Church in Germany has a very old religious and cultural heritage, which reaches back to both St. Boniface, apostle of Germany and first archbishop of Mainz, and to Charlemagne, buried at Aachen Cathedral. Notable religious sites include Ettal Abbey, Maria Laach Abbey, and Oberammergau, famous for its performance of the Passion Play, which takes place every ten years, the last being in 2010.

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