German trust in churches reaches rock bottom

These are results from a representative survey by the opinion research institute Forsa in Berlin. The German press agency IDEA writes about this.

According to the opinion research institute on Wednesday in Berlin, only 33 per cent of the people in Germany have great trust in the Protestant Church. In 2018, that percentage was 48 per cent. The Catholic Church does not do a lot better. Right now, 12 per cent of Germans trust the Catholic Church. In 2017, it was 28 per cent. This writes Christian German magazine PRO.

According to the survey, Germans continue to place the greatest trust in doctors (85 per cent), police officers (80 per cent) and universities (78 per cent).

"Of the 36 institutions examined, only Islam and advertising agencies have less trust than the Catholic Church. This means that not only many political institutions are losing, but also the two churches are responsible for the cohesion of the important binding force for society", says Forsa managing director Manfred Güllner to Katholisch.de.

Politics

In politics, supporters of the social democratic SPD and the Christian democratic CDU/CSU have the greatest trust in the Protestant Church (41 and 40 per cent, respectively). The Catholic Church registers the highest value among CDU/CSU voters (22 per cent).

The Central Council of Jews is trusted primarily by sympathizers of the Greens (58 per cent) and the SPD (49 per cent). When it comes to Islam, the Greens are ahead (13 per cent). Only a small minority of far-right AfD voters have great trust in ideological institutions. The Central Council of Jews came out best (15 per cent), followed by the Protestant Church (twelve per cent), the Catholic Church (six per cent) and Islam (three per cent).