About Kirche+Leben

Kirche+Leben

Kirche+Leben is the Catholic weekly newspaper for the Diocese of Münster, published in Münster since 1946. Appearing every week with a sold circulation of around 17,000 copies, it is the third-largest diocesan newspaper in Germany, after the Konradsblatt of the Archdiocese of Freiburg and the Katholisches Sonntagsblatt of the Diocese of Rottenburg-Stuttgart. Published by the Dialog Medien Publicity GmbH and issued by the Bishop of Münster, the paper reports on church life in one of Germany's largest dioceses, on the universal church and the Vatican, and on faith, culture and society. Its interviews and background reports are frequently picked up by other church media, giving the Münster weekly an influence beyond its circulation area.

Overview

Kirche+Leben is a subscription weekly in the tradition of the German Bistumszeitung, the diocesan newspaper, a press genre that has accompanied Catholic life in Germany since the nineteenth century. Its readers are Catholics in the Diocese of Münster, one of the largest German dioceses, stretching from the Lower Rhine through the Münsterland to the Oldenburg region. The paper sees itself as a bridge between the universal church and the local parish, reporting on the Pope and the Vatican, on the German Bishops' Conference and on developments in other dioceses, while giving the greatest weight to news from the parishes, deaneries and institutions of its own diocese.

The editorial concept combines several distinct sections. The Weltkirche section reports on topics from around the world, the Vatican and other German dioceses. The regional section covers the various regions of the diocese, with different editions for Kleve/Wesel, Borken/Steinfurt, Recklinghausen/Coesfeld, Münster/Warendorf and Oldenburg. A local section brings readers news from their deanery and parish. The Familienjournal, a special supplement, offers suggestions and help on passing on the faith and on leisure activities for families. The paper describes its reporting on the Catholic Church as constructive-critical, offering background pieces, impulses for faith and contributions from all parts of the diocese, Germany and the world.

Kirche+Leben appears weekly in German and is available by print subscription and as a digital subscription. The annual domestic subscription is listed at around 172 euros including VAT, with a digital-only option at around 90 euros. The publisher is the Dialog Medien Publicity GmbH of Münster, and the paper is issued by the Bishop of Münster. The editor-in-chief is Markus Nolte.

History

Kirche+Leben was founded in 1946, in the immediate aftermath of the Second World War, when the Catholic press in Germany was rebuilding under Allied licensing. The Diocese of Münster, whose territory had suffered heavy destruction, needed a medium to reconnect its parishes and to accompany the spiritual and material reconstruction. The new weekly quickly established itself as the voice of Catholics in the diocese, and in the post-war decades it grew with the church itself, reaching circulations far above today's figures in an era when the diocesan newspaper was a fixture in Catholic households.

The 1960s and 1970s brought the Second Vatican Council and its profound changes to Catholic life, which the paper documented and discussed for its readers. Like the entire German church press, Kirche+Leben participated in the debates about the council's implementation, the changing role of the laity and the church's relationship to modern society. The paper's interviews with bishops, theologians and public figures became a hallmark, and its conversations were often quoted by other church media, a tradition that continues to this day.

The structural changes of recent decades, declining church membership, the closure and merging of parishes, and the abuse crisis that has shaken the German Catholic Church, have posed existential challenges to the diocesan press. Kirche+Leben has responded with journalistic seriousness, reporting on the crisis in its own diocese and giving space to critical voices, while maintaining its role as a medium of faith communication. The publisher developed a growing online magazine alongside the weekly, with a newsroom producing daily updated, regionally rooted journalism, and the company trains young journalists in cooperation with the Catholic journalism school ifp in Munich. With a sold circulation of 17,225 copies in the second quarter of 2026, the paper remains the third-strongest diocesan newspaper in Germany, a position that reflects both the size of the Münster diocese and the loyalty of its readership.

Content and Sections

The content of Kirche+Leben is organised around the life of the church at all levels. The Weltkirche section covers the Vatican, the Pope, the universal church and developments in other German dioceses, giving readers the broader context for local events. The regional section reports from the five regions of the diocese, Kleve/Wesel, Borken/Steinfurt, Recklinghausen/Coesfeld, Münster/Warendorf and Oldenburg, each with its own edition, ensuring that readers find news from their own area. The local section goes deeper still, with reports from deaneries and parishes, covering parish festivals, church renovations, local initiatives and the people who shape community life.

The Familienjournal supplement addresses families with suggestions for passing on the faith to children, for shared leisure activities and for navigating the challenges of family life from a Christian perspective. Faith and spirituality features offer impulses for personal belief, interpretations of Sunday readings, and reports on pilgrimages, retreats and spiritual movements. Culture coverage includes reviews and reports on church music, art and literature, while the paper also addresses social and ethical issues, from migration and social justice to bioethics and the church's social teaching.

Interviews are a signature format of Kirche+Leben. Conversations with bishops, theologians, politicians, artists and ordinary Catholics give the paper a distinctive voice, and these interviews are frequently taken up by other church media. Commentaries and background reports provide orientation in church-political debates, from the Synodal Way to the future of parish structures. The overall editorial line is constructive-critical: loyal to the church but willing to name problems and to give space to reform debates.

Publisher and Organization

Kirche+Leben is published by the Dialog Medien Publicity GmbH, based in Münster. The publisher produces both the weekly newspaper Kirche+Leben for the Diocese of Münster and a growing online magazine with a newsroom for daily updated journalism. The company cooperates with the Catholic journalism school ifp in Munich in training young journalists, offering a two-year traineeship that combines practical work in the Münster newsroom with seminars and placements in other media houses.

The paper is issued by the Bishop of Münster, and the editor-in-chief is Markus Nolte. The publishing house's management and editorial responsibilities are published in the paper's imprint in accordance with German press law. Kirche+Leben appears weekly in German and is distributed by subscription, with print and digital options. The paper is a member of the Catholic press community in Germany and participates in the cooperative structures of the diocesan press. Its sold circulation of 17,225 copies in the second quarter of 2026 makes it the third-largest diocesan newspaper in Germany, after the Konradsblatt and the Katholisches Sonntagsblatt.

Digital Presence

The digital home of Kirche+Leben is kirche-und-leben.de, the website of the weekly and of the publisher's online magazine. The site carries daily updated news from the diocese, the church in Germany and the universal church, extending the weekly rhythm of the print edition into continuous online publishing. The online magazine, described by the publisher as strongly growing, produces journalism that is up to date, regionally rooted and relevant beyond the region, with a newsroom working in video, social media and text.

The brand is active on social media, where it shares news, interviews and faith impulses with its followers, and it produces video content for its digital channels. A digital subscription offers readers the paper's content in electronic form, complementing the print subscription. For the publisher, the digital channels are both a journalistic necessity and a training ground: the traineeship programme run with the ifp journalism school teaches young journalists multimedia working across the online magazine and the weekly. In a media environment where the diocesan press must reach younger Catholics who no longer subscribe to print weeklies, Kirche+Leben's digital presence is the bridge to the next generation of readers.