The Catholic Church in Germany has come under fire from both liberal and conservative church bodies for its recent decision to deny the sacraments to anyone who refuses to pay church tax.

Newcomers to Germany are often surprised to learn that anyone who affiliates with a major religion here is expected to pay a church tax. "Tithes," as they are known in English, have gone out of fashion in other countries, but not in Germany. The Finanzamt collects religious taxes amounting to 8 or 9% of the tax bill of registered members of the Catholic, Protestant and Jewish faiths and distributes these to the respective religious bodies. In order to be excused the tax, individuals must formally de-register their religious affiliation with the state authorities.

Now the Catholic Church is getting tough on those who de-register in order to avoid paying. The secretary of the German Bishops' Conference, the reverend Hans Langendoerfer, recently said that "it's rubbish to assume one could leave the institutional Church and remain a Catholic."

"Whoever leaves the Church," he said in an interview with a Catholic radio station in Cologne, "leaves it completely."

The German Bishop's Conference has stated that anyone who formally leaves the church in order to avoid paying tax will be excluded from all religious activities - including working for the church, receiving the sacraments, becoming a godparent, and even being buried by the church.

The liberal Catholic group "Wir sind Kirche" has denounced the move as "the wrong signal at the wrong time" and suggested that the bishops would be better employed in trying to understand why people leave the church rather than imposing sanctions on them. The conservative group called the "Union of Associations Loyal to the Pope" has also criticised the move, asking why people should be excommunicated for not paying tax - which is hardly a doctrinal issue - but those it terms "heretics" (liberal Catholics) should be permitted to stay.

"So sacraments are for sale - whoever pays the church tax can receive the sacraments," it said in a statement, comparing the new rules with the sale of indulgences denounced by Martin Luther at the time of the Reformation.

The Catholic Church earned about 5 billion euros in church taxes in 2010. In recent years, however, the number of those officially notifying the authorities of their desire to leave the church has risen from an annual average of around 120,000 to as many as 180,000 two years ago. The evidence suggests that the rise is not explained by a desire to escape tax so much as revulsion at perceived inadequacies in the church's response to child abuse scandals.