Archdiocese of Munich presents savings plans
The Archdiocese of Munich and Freising has to save – and now wants to announce how. Vicar General Christoph Klingan presented today in Munich the results of the so-called strategy process with which the diocese wants to defy times of falling church tax revenues.
When it came to saving money, there were “no taboos,” as Klingan said in the summer. Closing churches was also an option for him. The diocese WILL NOW answer the whole question of what it can still afford in the future – and what no longer.
The high number of people leaving the church and the resulting lost income from church taxes are affecting the Catholic Church. The prognoses for the coming years are somewhat bleak. According to the annual press conference in summer, the Archdiocese of Munich expects a minus of more than twelve million euros for the current year 2021. It would be the second consecutive minus. The diocese has to fall back on reserves to make up for the lack of income.
For the current year, the diocese is assuming church tax revenues of a good 615 million euros. That would be around 32 million fewer than in 2020. In 2019 it was 665 million. According to the forecasts, the Dizese will spend around 849 million this year. And although the financial effects of the Corona crisis have recently been less severe than feared.
The archbishopric is one of the richest in Germany, but – like all other dioceses – has to struggle with the effects of the Corona crisis, because this also means a reduction in church taxes.