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Cologne (dpa / lnw) - In Cologne, a particularly large number of people currently want to leave the church.
The number of online appointment bookings for church resignations has therefore been increased, said a spokesman for the local court on Thursday.
After the first lockdown, there were initially around 600 to 650 appointments per month, depending on the number of working days.
However, these appointments went away at such a speed that it was decided to introduce an additional 100 appointments per week.
This now gives you around 1000 appointments a month.
The dates for February and March are all booked out again, said the spokesman.
April will be activated next Monday.
The "Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger" had previously reported on the wave of exit.
The development may be related to the current crisis in the Archdiocese of Cologne, where Cardinal Rainer Maria Woelki has been holding back an abuse report for months due to legal concerns.
Other Catholic bishops have also sharply criticized this.
According to a report in the "Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger", 34 Cologne pastors wrote a letter to Woelki.
The clergy stated that there was a "widespread lack of understanding" about communication between the archbishopric and complained about a loss of trust.
"An expanding atmosphere of mistrust, suspicion and resigned withdrawal" becomes clear.
The priests demand relentless transparency and clarification: "Taking on personal responsibility on the one hand and taking on systematic responsibility on the other can set effective signs of conversion and a new beginning."
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