German Catholic bishop resigns in disgrace, church members` exodus continues | Germany | Deutsche Welle | 22.04.2010

In Germany, many people are official members of their church, and as such, they pay a "church tax" which is deducted directly from their monthly pay-checks.

More and more people have been leaving Germany's Catholic church this year, and these increases coincide with revelations of a string of sexual abuse scandals and the church's perceived failure to deal swiftly and openly with the cases.

The government collects what amounts to tithes from the faithful on behalf of the major religions in Germany (Catholicism, Lutheran Protestantism, orthodox Judaism) in the form of a payroll deduction, but people have the option of formally declaring their non-membership in a religious community to the revenue authorities. So when it comes to churches in Germany, voting with your feet means voting with your wallet.

So Church-sanctioned pederasty is costing the Church dearly.

The fact is that what we're experiencing right now is a top-down disaster. -Paul Krugman