The Catholic Weekly 5 July 2020

15 5, July, 2020 catholicweekly.com.au WORLD MORE THAN half a million peopleofficially left theCatho- lic and Protestant churches in Germany in 2019, new figures show. Just over half the popu- lation now belongs to one of the two main denominations. Germany’s top Catholic body said last week that a re- cord 272,771 people left the country’s Catholic Church in 2019, and that the number of baptisms and weddings taking place in churches also dropped sharply, according to the German international broadcaster Deutsche Welle . The number compares with some 216,000 people can- celling their membership in 2018, and beats the previous record of around 218,000 in 2014 by a large margin. The chairman of the Ger- man Bishops’ Conference, Georg Bätzing, said the statis- tics could not be made to look good in any way and that the drop in baptism and wedding ceremonies showed the “ero- sion of a personal attachment to the church” particularly clearly. The German Protestant Church (EKD) also had cause to be concerned about its membership numbers, with 270,000 people leaving in 2019, an increase of 22 per cent on the year before. The figure equals that of 2014. EKD head Heinrich Bed- ford-Strohm said that every person lost to the church was a painful blow, as church workers were all “highly mo- tivated.” Churches in Germany also suffer financially when they lose members, as a church tax is deducted from people’s in- comes if they are registered as being either Catholic or Prot- estant. No reason for leaving a church has to be given. Bed- Massive numbers quit Church in Germany A woman near the cathedral in Frankfurt holds a sign that reads, “No coverup for those guilty of abuse!” PHOTO: CNS/HARALD OPPITZ, KNA ford-Strohm said the reasons for the increase in departures would be examined in a spe- cial study. Last year, both churches published a study in which they predicted that mem- bership numbers would be halved by 2060. With deaths outnumbering births in recent years, the fall in membership goes beyond the number of people leaving. There are now around 22.6 million Catholics in Germa- ny, a drop of 400,000 in 2019, and 20.7 million Protestants, 427,000 fewer than the year before. Altogether 52.1 per cent of people in Germany still offi- cially belong to one of the two main Christian denomina- tions. The figures are not a comp- lete suprise toGermanChurch leaders. In May the German Archdiocese of Munich and Freising reported it has lost a record number of people in Quadriplegic man starved to death MICHAEL HICKSON, a 46-year-old American COV- ID-19 patient, was starved and left without adequate treatment for his illnesses at a medical facility in Texas. His wife, Melissa, said the hospi- tal refused to treat his illnesses because of his disability. Mr Hickson became quad- riplegic due to receiving CPR after he went into sudden car- diac arrest while driving his wife to work in May 2017. Melissa and their five chil- dren stayed by Michael’s side throughout his recovery. He landed back in hospital in 2020 after contracting COV- ID-19 and pneumonia from a staff member at his nursing home. Michael was conscious and alert but could not communi- cate verbally. He responded to jokes, shook his head, and puckered his lips on a Face- Time call when Melissa re- quested a kiss, she told Texas Right To Life News. Melissa asked if she could pray with her husband and their children, to which he nodded “yes.” But the doctor soon told Melissa her husbandwould be placed in a hospice against her will. In a recorded conversa- tion, the St David’s doctor told Melissa her husband would not receive treatment because of his disability, despite her wishes. “So as of right now, his quality of life – he doesn’t have much of one,” the doctor said to Mrs Hickson. “What do you mean? Because he’s paralysed with a brain injury he doesn’t have quality of life?” she re- sponded. “Correct,” the doctor re- plied. While Michael’s wife and another family member were litigating in court who would be Michael’s permanent guardian, a judge named a local organisation known as Family Eldercare as Mr Hick- son’s temporary guardian. Family Eldercare granted the doctor’s orders to not treat Michael and instead place him in hospice care. The doctor reiterated that Melissa had no say in whether her husband lived or died, tell- ing her “but at this point, we are going to do what we feel is best for him along with the state and this is what we de- cided… this is the decision be- tween the medical communi- ty and the state.” Michael was left without food or treatment for six days despite Melissa’s desire to save her husband. He passed away from the untreat- ed illnesses on 11 June. Melissa and her children are now grieving their hus- band and father. “I’m struggling to under- stand how and why this could ever happen. I lost my best friend, my better half, the oth- er half of my heart,” she told Texas Right to Life. “I was stripped of my rights as a wife, and left helplessly watching my husband be ex- ecuted. “I now have no husband, a widow at 47. My children are left with no father to celebrate Father’s Day. All taken away from us. I have no other words to express how I feel today ex- cept hurt, angry, and frustrat- ed. - TRTL NEWS Mr Hickson, a quadriplegic who was starved to death by doctors after contracting COVID-19. US clerical abuse allegations surge MORE THAN 4,400 allega- tions of sexual abuse of minors by US Catholic clergy were re- ported during the year end- ing 30 June 2019, a significant jump from the previous au- diting period, according to a report on diocesan and epar- chial compliance with the US bishops’ “Charter for the Pro- tection of Children and Young People.” Released on 25 June, the 17th annual report from the US Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Secretariat of Child and Youth Protection states that 4,220 child sexual abuse survivors filed 4,434 allega- tions. In the 2017-2018 audit period, 1,381 survivors filed 1,451 allegations. While the number jumped, the report said only 37 allega- tions involved current minors. Of these, the report said, eight allegations were substanti- ated, seven were unsubstan- tiated, six were unable to be proven, 12 remained under investigation, three were re- ferred to religious orders and one was referred to another diocese. The report attributed 37 per cent of the new allega- tions to lawsuits, the introduc- tion of victim compensation programs by dioceses and eparchies, and bankruptcies. An additional 3 per cent of allegations emerged after a re- view of clergy personnel files, according to the report. The allegations involved 2,982 clerics, including 2,623 priests, 46 deacons, 260 un- known persons and 53 others. A breakdown of the al- legations shows that 1,034 were substantiated, 147 were unsubstantiated, 1,434 were unable to be proven and 956 remained under investigation. Another 863 allegations were classified as “other,” meaning they were referred to a provin- cial superior when involving a cleric from a religious order or their status was “unknown.” Conducted by StoneBridge Business Partners of Roches- ter, New York, the report cov- ers the year from 1 July 2018 to 30 June 2019. The firm’s au- ditors visited 64 dioceses and eparchies and collected data from 130 more. The Centre for Applied Research in the Apostolate, based at Georgetown Univer- sity in Washington, gathers data for the annual audit re- port. The report comes as the US bishops have taken steps in response to Pope Francis’ “motu proprio” Vos Estis Lux Mundi (You are the Light of the World), which was issued after the first global meeting of bishops to discuss the pro- tection of minors in February 2019. The papal document set new rules and procedures to hold bishops and religious su- periors accountable for abuse allegationsmade against them for committing abuse or mis- handling abuse claims. - CNS 2019. The Munich statistical office told CNA Deutsch that 10,744 Catholics formally withdrew from the Church in 2019. It noted that this was a fifth higher than in 2018, when 8,995 people left. Statisticians said this was the first time annual departures had sur- passed the 10,000 mark. The previous highest figure was 9,010 in 1992. In March, Bayerischer Rundfunk, Bavaria’s pub- lic-service broadcaster, re- ported that people gave a variety of reasons for leaving, including a desire to stop paying church tax, the cler- ical abuse scandal and the position of women within the Church. The Church in Germany is largely funded through a tax collected by the government. If an individual is registered as a Catholic then 8-9 per cent of their income tax goes to the Church. - CNS