There is no relaxation in sight, even if the church tax revenues of the diocese of Mainz have recently increased again slightly.

Nevertheless, the diocese, which has around 680,000 Catholics in Hesse and Rhineland-Palatinate, expects a shortfall again for the next year: this time in the amount of a good 28 million euros, and that with a total volume of just under 354 million euros.

The budgets that the diocese's church tax council has to rule on have not been balanced for a number of years.

Up to now, however, this imbalance could still be corrected by withdrawing funds from reserves.

Markus Schug

Correspondent Rhein-Main-Süd.

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Above all, high expenses for pensions and grants are a cause of concern for those responsible.

In addition, the diocese has long had to pay negative interest for account balances at the house banks, it said.

That is why the diocese leadership around Mainz Bishop Peter Kohlgraf was asked by the responsible bodies at the beginning of December to “name further savings projects and reduce the structural deficit of the diocese”.

Save wherever possible

"We are drawing up an economic plan for 2022 that does not have the clarity of previous years," said Auxiliary Bishop and Vicar General Udo Markus Bentz. The diocese is in a “great situation of upheaval” and there will be developments “that we cannot foresee yet”. In a first phase, expenses are to be reduced by 20 million euros across all tasks by 2024. In the long run, however, the “lawn mower method” does not help. Rather, it is important to agree on the most important tasks of the church, i.e. pastoral priorities, in perspective. It must be clarified which “pastoral fields” are central and how the work there should be financed in the future.

As early as 2020, the diocese separated from individual schools and educational institutions in the region and "made painful cuts," said Bentz. The next step is to provide the 300 parishes with suitable instruments so that they can reduce their building stock. This in turn will lead to savings in construction maintenance and operating costs, for example. “In the long term, we have to achieve a 50 percent reduction in the entire property portfolio,” is the target set by Bentz.

The income from church tax, which according to the diocese is currently around five million euros below the value in 2019, continues to be the diocese's most important source of money.

The investment plan presented for next year has a volume of only 1.4 million euros, which is almost one million euros less than in 2021.