A "Francis bishop" in Germany says Church is becoming irrelevant
Bishop Heiner Wilmer says Catholicism must find alternative ways to 'radiate presence and charisma'
Bishop Heiner Wilmer of Hildesheim. (Photo by Moritz Frankenberg/dpa/MaxPPP)
Catholics in Germany formally left the Church in record numbers last year. The exact figure was 272,771 – a statistic recently confirmed by the national episcopal conference.
And Bishop Heiner Wilmer, a religious order priest that Pope Francis selected two years ago to lead the northern diocese of Hildersheim, fears there could be a further drop in church attendance due to the coronavirus crisis.
