德国目前存在65座由天主教和新教共同使用的教堂，这种做法源于宗教改革后的政治安排[1]。这些被称为"Simultankirchen"的共享教堂反映了两个教派在现代社会中的合作与融合。
曼海姆的圣庇护教堂是这一传统的典型代表[1]。该教堂从1970年代起就开始举办生态服务合作[1]。2009年底，邻近的新教圣托马斯教堂遭遇水灾无法修复，这一突发事件促使共享安排从临时合作转变为长期制度[1]。在2020至2022年的翻修工程中，两个教派的祭坛被融合成一座新祭坛，其中红砂岩来自新教祭坛，灰色石灰华来自天主教祭坛，两种材料混合铸造而成，象征着两派的融合与张力并存[1]。
类似的共享安排也存在于其他城市。基尔的圣比吉塔-托马斯教堂自1980年以来就由两个教派共同使用[1]。面对共同的挑战，两个教派都面临着神职人员短缺的问题[1]。据德国官方2025年的统计，德国有24500座天主教堂和21100座新教堂[1]。
Germany is home to approximately 65 shared churches where Catholics and Protestants worship together, a practice with roots in post-Reformation political compromises [1]. These Simultankirchen, as they are known, represent a distinctive form of religious coexistence that continues to evolve in the modern era.
The Church of Saint Pius in Mannheim exemplifies this arrangement. The congregation began holding ecumenical services in the 1970s, but the partnership became permanent following a turning point in 2009 when the neighboring Protestant Church of Saint Thomas was damaged beyond repair in a flood [1]. During a comprehensive renovation between 2020 and 2022, the church underwent a symbolic physical transformation: the two separate altars—one featuring red sandstone from the Protestant side and the other gray limestone from the Catholic side—were combined into a single new altar, representing both the unity and ongoing tensions between the two denominations [1]. Similarly, the Church of Saint Birgitta-Thomas in Kiel has been shared by Catholics and Protestants since 1980 [1].
Both faith communities in Germany face shared challenges in sustaining their religious institutions. According to official statistics from 2025, Germany has 24,500 Catholic churches and 21,100 Protestant churches, and both denominations confront a shortage of clergy members [1]. These shared worship spaces demonstrate how interfaith cooperation can provide practical solutions while maintaining distinct religious identities within a single sacred space.