Only a fifth of Germans still attend church services at Christmas
Just under a quarter of churchgoers (23 percent) said they only went to church at Christmas.
Cologne (KNA): One fifth of people in Germany (21 percent) plan to attend a church service at Christmas, according to a YouGov survey published on Tuesday.
Seventy percent do not plan to do so. Of the churchgoers, the highest percentage (15 percent) plan to attend a church service on Christmas Eve, seven percent on Christmas Day and four percent on Boxing Day.
Among Catholics polled by the market research and data analytics firm, a good third (34 percent) plan to attend a Christmas service, compared to 27 percent of protestants.
Almost half of the respondents who plan to go to church (49 percent) said they were doing so because of family traditions and out of habit.
Thirty-eight percent cited their faith and 37 percent the communal aspect of attending church while 29 percent said they enjoyed hearing the Christmas message from the Bible.
Just under a quarter of churchgoers (23 percent) said they only went to church at Christmas. Fifty-six percent said they also did so on other occasions such as funerals, weddings or other holidays like Easter and Pentecost. Eighteen percent said they regularly attend church services.
YouGov said the survey was representative and that it polled 2,150 people.