members of the Bundestag remain disproportionately anchored in the Christian tradition. Photo: @dpa

How many Catholic parliamentarians are there in Germany? This is the religious composition of the German parliament

Newly released data from the Bundestag’s historical reference manual shows that more than 48 percent of sitting MPs have declared an affiliation with either the Catholic or Protestant churches—outpacing the general population, where these two Christian denominations account for just over 45 percent combined.

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(ZENIT News / Berlin, 05.31.2025).- In an era when religious affiliation is steadily declining across much of Europe, Germany’s federal parliament reveals a different trend. Despite a noticeable secular drift in the broader population, members of the Bundestag remain disproportionately anchored in the Christian tradition.

Newly released data from the Bundestag’s historical reference manual shows that more than 48 percent of sitting MPs have declared an affiliation with either the Catholic or Protestant churches—outpacing the general population, where these two Christian denominations account for just over 45 percent combined. Catholics make up 26.1 percent of parliamentarians, while Protestants constitute 22.7 percent. In contrast, national statistics list 23.7 percent of citizens as Catholic and 21.5 percent as Protestant.

This alignment between faith and legislative office raises questions about the ongoing influence of religion in a secularizing society—and about how that influence is distributed across Germany’s complex political spectrum.

The Christian Democratic bloc (CDU/CSU), long rooted in a religiously inspired postwar tradition, unsurprisingly stands out: 84.6 percent of its 208 members identify as Christian—over half as Catholic, and nearly a third as Protestant. This spiritual profile contrasts sharply with that of The Left (Die Linke), where religious affiliation is minimal. Of its 64 MPs, fewer than 11 percent identify with Christianity, and nearly 58 percent offered no religious information at all.

Religious self-identification is voluntary among parliamentarians, and around a third—32.5 percent—opted not to disclose their affiliation. This doesn’t necessarily indicate a lack of belief or membership, but it does introduce ambiguity into the statistics. The actual number of religious MPs may be higher, though the silent group may also reflect a growing trend of personal secularism among Germany’s political elite.

The Social Democrats (SPD) reveal a more moderate religious landscape: just over half of their MPs affiliate with either Catholicism or Protestantism, with Protestants slightly ahead. The Greens, often associated with progressive secularism, also present a mixed picture: while 30.6 percent declared a Christian affiliation, a striking 40 percent provided no data—highlighting a generational and cultural shift in values.

Surprisingly, even the right-wing populist Alternative für Deutschland (AfD), which often invokes Christian identity in its rhetoric, shows a tepid religious self-identification. Nearly half of its MPs offered no religious information; only 13.2 percent identified as Catholic, and just over 9 percent as Protestant.

Islam, by contrast, is still significantly underrepresented in the Bundestag, despite the growing number of Muslims in Germany. Only six MPs identify as Muslim—four with the Greens and two with the SPD. While small, this representation marks a step forward in visibility for the country’s largest non-Christian faith group.

So what does all this tell us? At a glance, religion retains a visible footprint in German political life—but it’s increasingly uneven. Among conservatives, faith remains a cultural cornerstone; among progressives, it’s becoming more private, nuanced, or omitted altogether. The data shows that religious identity in politics has not disappeared—it has become more fragmented and, in some cases, more strategically expressed.

Whether this reflects broader shifts in German society or merely the demographic quirks of this legislative term remains to be seen. But one thing is clear: even in the polished chambers of Berlin’s Reichstag, religion continues to whisper its influence—though not always in unison, and increasingly not aloud.

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Joachin Meisner Hertz

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