Hitler's Concordat with the Catholic Church (1933)
HC Andersen
Although Hitler was determined to undermine, if not entirely destroy,
the influence of Christianity in Germany, he could hardly proceed in a
provocatively confrontational manner against the two main religious
denominations--Protestant and Catholic. His problem with the Catholic
Church, however, derived from the allegiance both the Catholic
hierarchy and the laity owed to the dictates of the Pope. And since
Catholics represented some one-third of the population, Hitler
perforce proceeded with caution in his ultimate goal to bring the
Church to heel. Thus, the formal agreement of July 1933, the Concordat
with the Vatican, was an interim step on this path--enough to lull the
Church into acquiescence of the regime while leaving him the option,
which he used, to step up intimidation and persecution of its members
as the opportunity afforded.
Art. 1. The German Reich guarantees freedom of profession and public
practice of the Catholic religion.
It acknowledges the right of the Catholic Church, within the limit of
those laws which are applicable to all, to manage and regulate her own
affairs independently, and, within the framework of her own
competence, to publish laws and ordinances binding on her members.
. . . .
Art. 4. . . . Instructions, ordinances, Pastoral Letters, official
diocesan gazettes, and other enactments regarding the spiritual
direction of the faithful issued by the ecclesiastical authorities
within the framework of their competence may be published without
hindrance and brought to the notice of the faithful in the form
hitherto usual.
Art. 5. . . . The State will take proceedings in accordance with the
general provisions of state law against any outrage offered to the
clergy personally or directed against their ecclesiastical character,
or any interference with the duties of their office, and in case of
need will provide official protection.
Art. 6. Clerics and religious are freed from any obligation to
undertake official offices and such obligations as, according to the
provisions of Canon Law, are incompatible with the clerical or
religious state [serve on juries, etc.] . . .
. . . . . . . .
Art. 14. . . . Catholic clerics who hold an ecclesiastical office in
Germany or who exercise pastoral or educational functions must:
(a) Be German citizens
(b) Have matriculated from a German secondary school
(c) Have studied philosophy and theology for at least
three years at
a German State University, a German ecclesiastical college, or a papal
college in Rome
. . . .
Art. 15. Religious orders and congregations are not subject to any
special restrictions on the part of the State, either as regards their
foundation, the erection of their various establishments, their number
. . ., pastoral activity, education, . . .or as regards the management
of their affairs, and the administration of their property. . . .
Art. 16. Before bishops take possession of their dioceses they are to
take an oath of fealty either to the Reich representative of the state
concerned, or to the President of the Reich, according to the
following formula:
"Before God and on the Holy Gospels I swear and promise, as becomes a
bishop, loyalty to the German Reich and to the State of . . . . I
swear and promise to honor the legally constituted government and to
cause the clergy of my diocese to honor it. In the performance of my
spiritual office and in my solicitude for the welfare and the
interests of the German Reich, I will endeavor to avoid all
detrimental acts which might endanger it." . . . .
Art. 21. Catholic religious instruction in elementary, senior,
secondary and vocational schools constitutes a regular portion of the
curriculum, and is to be taught in accordance with the principles of
the Catholic Church. In religious instruction, special care will be
taken to inculcate patriotic, civic and social consciousness and sense
of duty in the spirit of the Christian Faith and the moral code,
precisely as in the case of other subjects . .
Art. 23. The retention of Catholic denominational schools and the
establishment of new ones, is guaranteed . . .
Art. 32. In view of the special situation existing in Germany, and in
view of the guarantee provided through this Concordat of legislation
directed to safeguard the rights and privileges of the Roman Catholic
Church in the Reich and its component states, the Holy See will
prescribe regulations for the exclusion of clergy and members of
religious orders from membership of political parties, and from
engaging in work on their behalf.
Signed . . . in the Vatican City, July 20th, 1933 [Cardinal Eugenio
Pacelli; Franz von Papen]
JCarew
"HC Andersen" wrote with regards to:
>Hitler's Concordat with the Catholic Church (1933)
>snip<
>Thus, the formal agreement of July 1933, the Concordat
>with the Vatican, was an interim step on this path--enough
>to lull the Church into acquiescence of the regime while
>leaving him(Hitler,jc) the option, which he used, to step
>up intimidation and persecution of its members as the
>opportunity afforded.
Pius XII, Fr. Blet and the Zenet interview:
Date: Thursday, August 09, 2001 6:54 PM
ZENIT, September 7, 1999 - DAILY DISPATCH - The World Seen From Rome
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ROME, SEP 7, 1999 (ZENIT).
Fr. Blet, together with Angelo Martini, Burkhart Schneider and Robert A.
Graham, was co-editor of the twelve-volume work "Acts and Documents of the
Holy See During the Second World War," which was a complete collection of
all material on the subject stored in the Vatican's Secret Archive, opened
for this project by direct order of Pope Paul VI to dispel unsubstantiated
rumors of Pius XII's "silence" during World War II.
>snip<
ZENIT: What about the signing of the Concordant with the Third Reich?
FR. BLET: What else could have been done to protect the Church in Germany?
Refusing to sign the Concordant with the Nazis would have meant abandoning
Catholics into the hands of the new (political) power and there would have
been no possible line of defense.
The Holy See was not naďve regarding Hitler's regime. Referring to the
Concordant, Pacelli once confided: "I just hope they don't violate all the
clauses at the same time."
>snip<
ZE99090728
unquote
Jim Carew sfo