The number of people leaving the church in Bavarian cities exploded after the Munich abuse report was presented a month ago.

This was the result of a survey by the German Press Agency among several cities in the Free State.

In Munich, the number of people leaving the church doubled, as a spokesman for the district administration department (KVR) reported: “In the first half of January, i.e. before the report, we had around 80 church exits per working day in Munich.

Since January 20, i.e. since the report, there have been around 150 to 160 people leaving the church every working day.

So about twice as many.”

And there could be even more.

"Demand is certainly three times higher than at the beginning of the year," said the spokesman.

But that was not manageable: "The limit here is our capacity limit, especially for staff." The KVR had extended the opening times and used more people.

"Despite the extended opening hours and staff redeployment, it will probably not be possible to serve all exit requests promptly due to the very high demand."

617 left the church in Nuremberg

Other cities in Bavaria confirm the trend: between the day the abuse report was presented on January 20 and February 14, the Nuremberg registry office reported 617 people leaving the church, 381 from the Catholic Church, 234 from the Protestant Church and 2 others.

Two years ago - in the comparison year 2020 - the registry office had only 372 resignations in this period, of which 200 were Catholic, 165 Protestant and 7 others.

In Ingolstadt, from January 20 to February 17, 254 people declared their withdrawal from the church - in the same period last year there were 84. "The registry office reports continued high demand for exit dates," said a spokesman for the city.

The report by the law firm Westpfahl Spilker Wastl (WSW), presented on January 20 and commissioned by the Archdiocese of Munich and Freising itself, came to the conclusion that cases of sexual abuse in the diocese had not been dealt with appropriately for decades.

The experts assume at least 497 victims and 235 alleged perpetrators, but at the same time from a significantly higher number of unreported cases.

They raised serious allegations against, among others, Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, Joseph Ratzinger, whom they accuse of fourfold misconduct in dealing with cases of abuse.