Demographics, lack of community cohesion and lack of belief have brought about a mass demoliton of churches.
In 2001, then Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger told Peter Sewald: “The church will be reduced numerically. In a city like Magdeburg the percentage of Christians is only 8 percent of the total population, including – mind you – all Christian denominations. The statistical data show irrefutable tendencies”.
Since 2000, the Catholic church in Germany has desecrated, demolished and sold 540 churches and chapels. Of these, 80 were in Magdeburg. In the diocese of Essen, Bishop Franz Hengsbach saw the number of Catholics halved, so 57 churches were abandoned. In the diocese of Hildesheim, as many as 51 churches have been deconsecrated since 2008.
17 years have passed since that Ratzinger interview and the data has almost collapsed everywhere. From “irrefutable”, the numbers seem to have become irredeemable.
In a study commissioned by the Bishops’ Conference, researchers at the Albert-Ludwigs-Universität in Freiburg are even more pessimistic than Ratzinger: the total of Christian denominations – adding up the Catholic and Protestant ones – will fall from the current 45 million to 34 million in 2035 and will halve to 22 million within 40 years. The number of Protestants in the next generation will fall from the current 21.5 million to 10.5 million, while that of Catholics from 23 million to 12.3 million.
This is due to demographic decline and dropouts. In the north and east of the country, Christians will be only a small minority with 3.8 and 1.5 million, respectively. The main Protestant churches already saw their percentage halved from 59 to 29 per cent. And today, as Erik Flügge explains in a new book, “90 percent of church members do not participate in community life”.
The demolitions will not stop at 540 churches. “We are just beginning this development”, said Albert Gerhards of the University of Bonn. “If there is no rethinking, a sharp increase in demolitions is foreseeable in the coming years”.
In Europe’s most important country, Andreas Püttmann, a researcher with the Konrad Adenauer Foundation, wrote a book in which he called the situation Gesellschaft ohne Gott, the society without God.
But he is wrong.
Christianity is dying. but Islam is rising.
The writer, an Italian journalist with Il Foglio, writes a twice-weekly column for Arutz Sheva. He is the author of the book “A New Shoah”, that researched the personal stories of Israel’s terror victims, published by Encounter and of “J’Accuse: the Vatican Against Israel” published by Mantua Books.. His writing has appeared in publications, such as the Wall Street Journal, Frontpage and Commentary.
“Islam is a religion that promotes peace”….and …”all children are born Muslim”….”but their parents…”
Since this is about “religion promotion” (vaguely)..I will just say “(un)Holy Crap” “because that’s exactly what it is……
Pardon my 4-letter-word… the first I think I’ve ever used.
He sounds crazy to me….like nearly ALL Muslims…..Not surprising…They re toxic.
@ Iftikhar Ahmad:
Their are many violent Muslims and many learn this from their teachings. Yes there many good and peaceful Muslims.
However, in the last 30 days alone there were 132 Islamic attacks in 24 countries, in which 622 people were killed and 458 injured.
Since 911 there have been more than 35,000 Islamic Terror attacks
Also when say most westerners know only one language surely you are not talking about Europe. Most Europeans speak two or more languages, excluding the English and Irish, since the majority of educated Europeans now speak English as a second language. Monolingual Europeans are now in the minority. 19% of Europeans are bilingual, 25% are trilingual and 10% speak four or more languages
Much of what you write you may believe but it seems false based on the evidence.
The people are like sheep and you are a pied piper leading them over the cliff to their own destruction.
I am not going to acept any more of your propaganda. If you write a piece in which you acknowledge the things I have complained of and try to justify them I will accept the comment. But don’t write a comment that ignores them.
Iftikhar Ahmad Said:
That’s because the truth of Islam is hidden. You suppress the truth by calling it blasphamy and making it a crime to criticize Islam. Your Koran calls for the murder of Jews and gays. It calls for the submission of all people of the book and the conversion of all infidels. It is a brutal religion. ISIS killed people in the name of religion. Women are second class citizens and are totally to be controlled by their men.Sharia Law punishments are brutal. Islam thinks it has the right to force peoples to submit to Islam. They have plans to make Europe and America to submit. I could go on. I believe that Islam embodies an ideology that is loathsome.
Islam is the fastest growing religion in the West. Nevertheless, the West has many stereotypes and misconceptions about Islam that are due to the media, prejudice, and ignorance. Islam is often looked upon as an extremist, terrorist religion. Many people hate Islam and do not want to acknowledge its true teachings. In contrast to what many Westerners think of Islam, Islam is a peaceful religion, which does not promote any forms against the teachings.
The vast majority of Europeans and Americans know very little about Islam. They know hardly anything about its history and its teachings and do not particularly want to learn, according to a German academic. Very few westerners are bilingual. On the other hand, majority of Muslims are bilingual and have an associated knowledge of other cultures. In this respect, they are far ahead of many western citizens.
Islamic studies is a “Strategic subject” that, when accurately and effectively taught, can aid community cohesion and extremism, according to British Ministers. Islamic studies should be part and parcel of National Curriculum instead of citizenship education so that all state , church and private school children could learn and understand Islamic traditions and values. The subject must be taught by Muslims.
According to the Holy Quran, all children are born Muslims, it is their parents who make them Jew, Christian or others. This is one of the many reasons why now western peoples are reverting to Islam on their own free will. Throughout the history, Muslims never forced non-Muslims to accept Islam. This is the main reason why Muslims lost Spain and India.
Today, many non-Muslims regard Islam as a religion that promotes violence, terrorism and war. Unfortunately, they rely in their view of Islam on the general media, which is not always accurate in reporting the news. Many media outlets, such as TV, radio, newspapers and magazines, are influenced by their investors or owners who have certain agendas and who want to promote certain values and points of view. Other media outlets are simply after the “big story”, in order to make more money and more profits. Others are simply “followers”, who only gather news from other sources, re-package it and try to sell it again purely as a business.
In all these cases, the news reporting is not accurate, but is driven by ulterior motives or simply by profits. Only very few media organizations are committed to providing accurate and true information, regardless of financial gain. Therefore, people today should be very careful in what they take from the media.
Before blindly accepting what the TV, radio or newspaper is reporting, one should think critically about what is being reported. Is this being reported accurately, or is it being exaggerated or even completely fabricated? Who are these people reporting the news, and do they have vested interests to report the story in a certain way, or are they completely objective and fair? Critical thinking is very important in all aspects of life, especially when it comes to accepting the media reports about important and controversial issues.
Islam is in fact a religion that promotes peace and understanding among people of all faiths, and it strongly prohibits all forms of violence and aggression against all people regardless of their faith or race.
Islam Prohibits Violence and Aggression, and stands for Peace and Justice.
Islam clearly prohibits all kinds and forms of aggression and violence against anyone, except in self-defense. Islam is a practical religion, meant to be implemented in every aspect of our life. Therefore, it realizes the fact that a person who commits aggression and violence against others will not cease these actions unless they are deterred by similar actions taken against them.
Islam also places very high importance on justice, and allows for aggressors and unjust people be punished accordingly, unless they repent before they are brought to justice. At the same time, Islam encourages people to forgive those who have wronged them whenever possible.
The beauty of Islam is that it is a religion which appeals to common sense. There is no blind belief or dogmatism in Islam. The fundamentals of Islam are simple, straightforward and easy to understand.
If Islam is so bad, then why is it the WORLD’S FASTEST GROWING RELIGION! It is also one of the youngest religions. However no matter how hard everyone tries to give Islam a bad name, it will be twice as more populated. So let’s get straight to the point yeah?, Basically Islam is the most hated religion I don’t know why hmm maybe because it is also the most fastest growing religion and 2nd largest but no one will be able to stop this religion from growing.
Islam is the fastest growing faith in Britain. Hundreds and thousands of Brits are reverting to Islam. By the middle of this century, over half of Brits would be Muslims.
“I have always held the religion of Muhammad in high estimation because of its wonderful vitality. It is the only religion which appears to me to possess that assimilating capacity to the changing phase of existence which can make itself appeal to every age. I have studied him – the wonderful man and in my opinion for from being an anti-Christ, he must be called the saviour of Humanity. I believe that if a man like him were to assume the dictatorship of the modern world, he would succeed in solving its problems in a way that would bring it the much needed peace and happiness: I have prophesied about the faith of Muhammad that it would be acceptable to the Europe of tomorrow as it is beginning to be acceptable to the Europe of today.” [G.B. Shaw, THE GENUINE ISLAM, Vol. No. 81936.]
IA
http://www.londonschoolofislamics.org.uk