“It’s a fact that church attendance has strongly (been) reduced, with a significant and steady decline in priestly vocations and church membership, and an increasing loss of financial income.”

The district court in Munich handed down its verdict in the case of the Rev. Joerg Alt after he participated in a road blockade in the Bavarian capital on Oct. 28.

In a new interview, Cardinal Gerhard Müller said Pope Francis should correct or punish German bishops for approving “proposals directly against the Catholic faith,” including blessings for homosexual couples.

Germany's Catholic bishops and lay representatives agreed to call for the church in Germany to approve blessings of same-sex unions, despite Vatican statements.

The Catholic Church in Germany has so far paid more than $43.5 million (40 million euros) to victims of sexual abuse, German Catholic KNA agency has reported.

The pope warned there's a risk that a reform process in the German Catholic Church over calls for married priests and other possible liberalizing reforms might become harmfully "ideological."