In the past five years, German Bishops' Conference (DBK) reported the closure of 131 Catholic churches across the nation. A staggering 126 out of these churches have subsequently been deconsecrated, stripping them of their holy status. One of the churches set for deconsecration is the Ebenhausen church of St. Benedict in Schäftlarn, located in Munich and Freising Archdiocese. This move, as stated by the archdiocese, is due to the financial unfeasibility of repairing the asbestos-ridden roof and damp building fabric of the church, constructed less than six decades ago.
This is an unusual development for the Munich archdiocese, as St. Benedict's marks the first church to be formally profaned without a replacement building in recent history. Historical predecessors of church closures include the Augustinian Church in Munich, deconsecrated at the beginning of the 19th century, and the Carmelite Church and Allerheiligenhof Church in the Munich Residence, both of which have remained disused since World War II due to extensive war damage.
Catholic dioceses located in Bavaria noted that other places of worship have also been shuttered in the current year. The Würzburg diocese closed two smaller churches in Rüdenhausen and Sommerhausen, while the St. Monika Church in Ingolstadt was slated for deconsecration in the Eichstätt diocese. Interestingly, a representative from the Archdiocese of Bamberg reported that only a handful of churches have been sold or donated in the last decade, indicating that the religious structure is extremely protective of their consecrated spaces.
Deconsecration involves the removal of sacred objects and initiates the transformation of a church into a secular building. In rare instances, religious buildings affected by closures or deconsecration may be repurposed by other denominations, such as Orthodox churches. Relating to the current situation, Protesant regional church confirmed that 13 Protestant churches have been deconsecrated in Bavaria since 2019.
While historical events like the Kulturkampf have influenced Catholic institutions in Germany, there is no ongoing trend of widespread church closures and deconsecrations in the country. Any specific instances of church closures would likely be due to local or specific circumstances rather than a general policy.
