The Holy See and the Third Reich


Adolf Hitler ascended to power in Germany in 1933. Shortly after, the
Church became concerned for the welfare of Catholics there both spiritually
and materially. In an attempt to ensure the welfare of souls within the
German Reich, and to put a check on contemporary abuses and potential
dangers, Pope Pius XI signed an agreement with the government of Germany.
Such a treaty is called a "Concordat". One historically famous Concordat
was that of 1801 between Pope Pius VII and Napoleon Bonaparte, which
re-established the Church in France (repudiated by the French government in
its Law of the Separation of Church and State in 1905).
The Concordat between the Holy See and the German Reich is often
mentioned but rarely quoted (and even more difficult to find.)
Unfortunately it is "often mentioned" by the enemies of the Church in order
to accuse the Church of favoring the German Reich under Hitler. In
searching for this Concordat on the Internet, without success, we even come
upon such an absurd statement as:

"The Nazi party was blessed and supported by the Vatican."

Why is this Concordat "rarely quoted"? Because no quote can be used
from it to support such a bold-faced lie as this. A simple reading of this
treaty shows that the Church's concern was solely religious and for the
welfare of souls. And it is apparent by the specific subject matter of each
article that the Church knew well the dangers of socialism with its
inevitable infringement on religion and the private sector.
It is also apparent that such an attempted Concordat was sorely needed
but sadly ineffective; as it turned out the fears of the Church became
reality as Adolf Hitler broke the treaty and severely persecuted the
Catholic Church in Germany. Less than four years later the same Pope, Pius
XI, was forced to write his encyclical "Mit Brennender Sorge" to expose the
situation in Germany for what it came to be, and to condemn the errors
within the Reich. The encyclical makes mention of the Concordat. The
English translation of the Concordat is provided below.

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CONCORDAT BETWEEN THE HOLY SEE AND THE GERMAN REICH

His Holiness Pope Pius XI and the President of the German Reich, moved
by a common desire to consolidate and enhance the friendly relations
existing between the Holy See and the German Reich, wish to regulate the
relations between the Catholic Church and the State for the whole territory
of the German Reich in a permanent manner and on a basis acceptable to both
parties. They have decided to conclude a solemn agreement, which will
supplement the Concordats already concluded with certain individual German
states, and will ensure for the remaining States fundamentally uniform
treatment of their respective problems.
For this purpose:
His Holiness Pope Pius XI has appointed as his Plenipotentiary His Eminence
the Most Reverend Lord Cardinal Eugenio Pacelli, his Secretary of State.
The President of the German Reich has appointed as Plenipotentiary the
Vice-Chancellor of the German Reich, Herr Franz von Papen.
Who, having exchanged their respective credentials and found them to be
in due and proper form, have agreed to the following articles:

Article 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.

Article 2. - The Concordats concluded with Bavaria (1924), Prussia (1929)
and Baden (1932) remain in force, and the rights and privileges of the
Catholic Church recognized therein are secured unchanged within the
territories of the States concerned. For the remaining States the
agreements entered into in the present Concordat come into force in their
entirety. These last are also binding for those States named above in so
far as they affect matters not regulated by the regional Concordats or are
complementary to the settlement already made.
In future, regional Concordats with States of the German Reich will be
concluded only with the agreement of the Reich Government.

Article 3. - In order to foster good relations between the Holy See and the
German Reich, an Apostolic Nuncio will reside in the capital of the German
Reich and an Ambassador of the German Reich at the Holy See, as heretofore.

Article 4. - In its relations and correspondence with the bishops, clergy
and other members of the Catholic Church in Germany, the Holy See enjoys
full freedom. The same applies to the bishops and other diocesan officials
in their dealings with the faithful in all matters belonging to their
pastoral office.
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 (Art. 1, Sect. 2) may be published without hindrance and brought
to the notice of the faithful in the form hitherto usual.

Article 5. In the exercise of their spiritual activities the clergy enjoy
the protection of the State in the same way as State officials. 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.

Article 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. This
applies particularly to the office of magistrate, juryman, member of
Taxation Committee or member of the Fiscal Tribunal.

Article 7. The acceptance of an appointment or office in the State, or in
any publicly constituted corporation dependent on the State, requires, in
the case of the clergy, the "nihil obstat" of the Diocesan Ordinary of the
individual concerned, as well as that of the Ordinary of the place in which
the publicly constituted corporation is situated. The "nihil obstat" may be
withdrawn at any time for grave reasons affecting ecclesiastical interests.


Article 8. The official income of the clergy is immune from distraint to
the same extent as is the official salary of officials of the Reich and State.

Article 9. The clergy may not be required by judicial and other officials
to give information concerning matters which have been entrusted to them
while exercising the care of souls, and which therefore come within the
obligation of pastoral secrecy.

Article 10. The wearing of clerical dress or of a religious habit on the
part of lay folk, or of clerics or religious who have been forbidden to
wear them by a final and valid injunction made by the competent
ecclesiastical authority and officially communicated to the State
authority, is liable to the same penalty on the part of the State as the
misuse of military uniform.

Article 11. The present organization and demarcation of dioceses of the
Catholic Church in the German Reich remains in force. Such rearrangements
of a bishopric or of an ecclesiastical province or of other diocesan
demarcations as shall seem advisable in the future, so far as they involve
changes within the boundaries of a German State, remain subject to the
agreement of the Government of the State concerned.
Rearrangements and alterations which extend beyond the boundaries of a
German State require the agreement of the Reich Government, to whom it
shall be left to secure the consent of the regional Government in question.
The same applies to rearrangements or alterations of ecclesiastical
Provinces involving several German States. The foregoing conditions do not
apply to such ecclesiastical boundaries as are laid down merely in the
interests of local pastoral care.
In the case of any territorial reorganization within the German Reich,
the Reich Government will communicate with the Holy See with a view to
rearrangement of the organization and demarcation of dioceses.
Article 12. Without prejudice to the provisions of Article 11,
ecclesiastical offices may be freely constituted and changed, unless the
expenditure of State funds is involved. The creation and alteration of
parishes shall be carried out according to principles with which the
diocesan bishops are agreed, and for which the Reich Government will
endeavor to secure uniform treatment as far as possible from the State
Governments.

Article 13. Catholic parishes, parish and diocesan societies, episcopal
sees, bishoprics and chapters, religious Orders and Congregations, as well
as institutions, foundations and property which are under the
administration of ecclesiastical authority, shall retain or acquire
respectively legal competence in the civil domain according to the general
prescriptions of civil law. They shall remain publicly recognized
corporations in so far as they have been such hitherto; similar rights may
be granted to the remainder in accordance with those provisions of the law
which apply to all.

Article 14. As a matter of principle the Church retains the right to
appoint freely to all Church offices and benefices without the co-operation
of the State or of civil communities, in so far as other provisions have
not been made in previous Concordats mentioned in Article 2. The regulation
made for appointment to the Metropolitan see of Freiburg (the
Ecclesiastical Province of the Upper Rhine) is to be duly applied to the
two suffragan bishoprics of Rottenburg and Mainz, as well as to the
bishopric of Meissen. With regard to Rottenburg and Mainz the same
regulation holds for appointments to the Cathedral Chapter, and for the
administration of the right of patronage. Furthermore, there is accord on
the following points:


1. 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.
2. The Bull nominating Archbishops, Coadjutors "cum jure successionis",
or appointing a "Praelatus nullius", will not be issued until the name of
the appointee has been submitted to the representative of the National
Government in the territory concerned, and until it has been ascertained
that no objections of a general political nature exist.

By agreement between Church and State, Paragraph 1, sections (a) (b) and
(c) may be disregarded or set aside.

Article 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, the
selection of members (save for the special provisions of paragraph 2 of
this article), pastoral activity, education, care of the sick and
charitable work, or as regards the management of their affairs and the
administration of their property.
Religious Superiors whose headquarters are within Germany must be German
citizens. Provincials and other Superiors of Orders, whose headquarters lie
outside Germany, have the right of visitation of those of their
establishments which lie within Germany.
The Holy See will endeavor to unsure that the provincial organization of
conventual establishments within the German Reich shall be such that, as
far as possible, German establishments do not fall under the jurisdiction
of foreign provincials. Agreements may be made with the Reich Government in
cases where the small number of houses makes a special German province
impracticable, or where special grounds exist for the retention of a
provincial organization which is firmly established and has acquired an
historic nature.

Article 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."
Article 17. The property and other rights of public corporation,
institutions, foundations and associations of the Catholic Church regarding
their vested interests, are guaranteed according to the common law of the
land.
No building dedicated to public worship may be destroyed for any reason
whatsoever without the previous consent of ecclesiastical authorities
concerned.


Article 18. Should it become necessary to abrogate the performance of
obligations undertaken by the State towards the Church, whether based on
law, agreement or special charter, the Holy See and the Reich will
elaborate in amicable agreement the principles according to which the
abrogation is to be carried out.
Legitimate traditional rights are to be considered as titles in law.
Such abrogation of obligations must be compensated by an equivalent in
favor of the claimant.

Article 19. Catholic Theological Faculties in State Universities are to be
maintained. Their relation to ecclesiastical authorities will be governed
by the respective Concordats and by special Protocols attached to the same,
and with due regard to the laws of the Church in their regard. The Reich
Government will endeavor to secure for all these Catholic Faculties in
Germany a uniformity of practical administration corresponding to the
general spirit and tenor of the various agreements concerned.

Article 20. Where other agreements do not exist, the Church has the right
to establish theological and philosophical colleges for the training of its
clergy, which institutions are to be wholly dependent on the ecclesiastical
authorities if no State subsidies are sought.
The establishment, management and administration if theological
seminaries and hostels for clerical students, within the limits of the law
applicable to all, is exclusively the prerogative of the ecclesiastical
authorities.

Article 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. The syllabus and the selection of textbooks for religious
instruction will be arranged by consultative agreement with the
ecclesiastical authorities, and these latter have the right to investigate
whether pupils are receiving religious instruction in accordance with the
teachings and requirements of the Church. Opportunities for such
investigation will be agreed upon with the school authorities.

Article 22. With regard to the appointment of Catholic religious
instructors, agreement will be arrived at as a result of mutual
consultation on the part of the bishop unfit for the further exercise of
their teaching functions, either on pedagogical grounds or by reason of
their moral conduct, may not be employed for religious instruction so long
as the obstacle remains.

Article 23. The retention of Catholic denomination schools and the
establishment of new ones, is guaranteed. In all parishes in which parents
or guardians request it, Catholic elementary schools will be established,
provided that the number of pupils available appears to be sufficient for a
school managed and administered in accordance with the standards prescribed
by the State, due regard being had to the local conditions of school
organizations.
Article 24. In all Catholic elementary schools only such teachers are to be
employed as are members of the Catholic Church, and who guarantee to
fulfill the special requirements of a Catholic school.

Within the frame-work of the general professional training of teachers,
arrangements will be made which will secure the formation and training of
Catholic teachers in accordance with the special requirements of Catholic
denominational schools.

Article 25. Religious Orders and Congregations are entitled to establish
and conduct private schools, subject to the general laws and ordinances
governing education. In so far as these schools follow the curriculum
prescribed for State schools, those attending them acquire the same
qualifications as those attending State schools.
The admission of members of religious Orders or Congregations to the
teaching office, and their appointment to elementary, secondary or senior
schools, are subject to the general conditions applicable to all.

Article 26. With certain reservations pending a later comprehensive
regulation of the marriage laws, it is understood that, apart from cases of
critical illness of one member of an engaged couple which does not permit
of a postponement, and in cases of great moral emergency (the presence of
which must be confirmed by the proper ecclesiastical authority), the
ecclesiastical marriage ceremony should precede the civil ceremony. In such
cases the pastor is in duty bound to notify the matter immediately at the
Registrar's office.

Article 27. The Church will accord provision to the German army for the
spiritual guidance of its Catholic officers, personnel and other officials,
as well as for the families of the same.
The administration of such pastoral care for the army is to be vested in
the army bishop. The latter's ecclesiastical appointment is to be made by
the Holy See after contact has been made with the Reich Government in order
to select a suitable candidate who is agreeable to both parties.
The ecclesiastical appointment of military chaplains and other military
clergy will be made after previous consultations with the appropriate
authorities of the Reich by the army bishop. The army bishop may appoint
only such chaplains as receive permission from their diocesan bishop to
engage on military pastoral work, together with a certificate of
suitability. Military chaplains have the rights of parish priests with
regard to the troops and other army personnel assigned to them.
Detailed regulations for the organization of pastoral work by chaplains
will be supplied by an Apostolic Brief. Regulations for official aspects of
the same work will be drawn up by the Reich Government.

Article 28. In hospitals, prisons, and similar public institutions the
Church is to retain the right of visitation and of holding divine service,
subject to the rules of the said institutions. If regular pastoral care is
provided for such institutions, and if pastors be appointed as State or
other public officials, such appointments will be made by agreement with
the ecclesiastical authorities.

Article 29. Catholic members of a non-German minority living within the
Reich, in matters concerning the use of their mother tongue in church
services [sermons], religious instruction and the conduct of church
societies, will be accorded no less favorable treatment than that which is
actually and in accordance with law permitted to individuals of German
origin and speech living within the boundaries of the corresponding foreign
States.


Article 30. On Sundays and Holy days, special prayers, conforming to the
Liturgy, will be offered during the principal Mass for the welfare of the
German Reich and its people in all episcopal, parish and conventual
churches and chapels of the German Reich.

Article 31. Those Catholic organizations and societies which pursue
exclusively charitable, cultural or religious ends, and, as such, are
placed under the ecclesiastical authorities, will be protected in their
institutions and activities.
Those Catholic organizations which to their religious, cultural and
charitable pursuits add others, such as social or professional interests,
even though they may be brought into national organizations, are to enjoy
the protection of Article 31, Section I, provided they guarantee to develop
their activities outside all political parties.
It is reserved to the central Government and the German episcopate, in
joint agreement, to determine which organizations and associations come
within the scope of this article.
In so far as the Reich and its constituent States take charge of sport
and other youth organizations, care will be taken that it shall be possible
for the members of the same regularly to practice their religious duties on
Sundays and feast days, and that they shall not be required to do anything
not in harmony with their religious and moral convictions and obligations.

Article 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.

Article 33. All matters relating to clerical persons or ecclesiastical
affairs, which have not been treated of in the foregoing articles, will be
regulated for the ecclesiastical sphere according to current Canon Law.
Should differences of opinion arise regarding the interpretation or
execution of any of the articles of this Concordat, the Holy See and the
German Reich will reach a friendly solution by mutual agreement.

Article 34. This Concordat, whose German and Italian texts shall have
equal binding force, shall be ratified, and the certificates of
ratification shall be exchanged, as soon as possible. It will be in force
from the day of such exchange.

In witness hereof, the plenipotentiaries have signed this Concordat.
Signed in two original exemplars, in the Vatican City, July 20th, 1933.

Signed: Eugenio, Cardinal Pacelli.
Signed: Franz von Papen.


The Supplementary Protocol.

At the signing of the Concordat concluded today between the Holy See and
the German Reich, the undersigned, being regularly thereto empowered, have
adjoined the following explanations which form an integral part of the
Concordat itself.
In re: Article 3. The Apostolic Nuncio to the German Reich, in
accordance with the exchange of notes between the Apostolic Nunciature in
Berlin and the Reich Foreign Office on the 11th and the 27th of March
respectively, shall be the Doyen of the Diplomatic Corps thereto accredited.
Article 13. It is understood that the Church retains the right to levy
Church taxes.

Article 14, Par. 2. It is understood that when objections of a general
political nature exist, they shall be presented within the shortest
possible time. If after twenty days such representations have not been
made, the Holy See may be justified in assuming that no objections exist to
the candidate in question. The names of the persons concerned will be kept
confidential until the announcement of the appointment. No right of the
State to assert a veto is to be derived from this article.
Article 17. In so far as public buildings or properties are devoted to
ecclesiastical purposes, these are to be retained as before, subject to
existing agreements.
Article 19, Par 2. This clause is based, at the time of signature of
this Concordat, especially on the Apostolic Constitution, "Deus Scientiarum
Dominus' of May 24th, 1931, and the Instruction of July 7th, 1932.
Article 20. Hostels which are administered by the Church in connection
with certain Universities and secondary schools, will be recognized, from
the point of view of taxation, as essentially ecclesiastical institutions
in the proper sense of the word, and as integral parts of diocesan
organization.
Article 24. In so far as private institutions are able to meet the
requirements of the new educational code with regard to the training of
teachers, all existing establishments of religious Orders and Congregations
will be given due consideration in the accordance or recognition.
Article 26. A severe moral emergency is taken to exist when there are
insuperable or disproportionately difficult and costly obstacles impeding
the procuring of documents necessary for the marriage at the proper time.
Article 27, Par. 1. Catholic officers, officials and personnel, their
families included, do not belong to local parishes, and are not to
contribute to their maintenance.
Par 4. The publication of the Apostolic Brief will take place after
consultation with the Reich Government.
Article 28. In cases of urgency entry of the clergy is guaranteed at all
times.
Article 29. Since the Reich Government has seen its way to come to an
agreement regarding non-German minorities, the Holy See declares - in
accordance with the principles it has constantly maintained regarding the
right to employ the vernacular in Church services [sermons], religious
instruction and the conduct of Church societies - that it will bear in mind
similar clauses protective of German minorities when establishing
Concordats with other countries.
Article 31, Par. 4. The principles laid down in Article 31, Sect. 4
hold good also for the Labor Service.
Article 32. It is understood that similar provisions regarding activity
in Party politics will be introduced by the Reich Government for members of
non-catholic denominations. The conduct, which has been made obligatory for
the clergy and members of religious Orders in Germany in virtue of Article
32, does not involve any sort of limitation of official and prescribed
preaching and interpretation of the dogmatic and moral teachings and
principles of the Church.


Signed: Eugenio, Cardinal Pacelli.
Signed: Franz von Papen.

At the Vatican City, July 20th, 1933.




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