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Popes Pius XI (1922–39) and Pius XII (1939-1958) led the Roman Catholic Church through the rise and fall of Nazi Germany. Around a third of Germans were Catholic in the 1930s. The Church in Germany had spoken against the rise of Nazism, but the Catholic aligned Centre Party capitulated in 1933 and was banned. Several key Nazis, including Hitler, had been raised Catholic, but became hostile to the Church in adulthood. While Article 24 of the NSDAP party platform called for conditional toleration of Christian denominations and the 1933 ''Reichskonkordat'' treaty with the Vatican purported to guarantee religious freedom for Catholics, the Nazis were essentially hostile to Christianity and the Catholic Church faced persecution in Nazi Germany. Its press, schools and youth organisations were closed, much property confiscated and around one third of its clergy faced reprisals from authorities. Catholic lay leaders were targeted in the Night of the Long Knives purge. The Church hierarchy attempted to co-operate with the new government, but in 1937, the Papal Encyclical ‘’Mit brennender Sorge’’ accused the regime of "fundamental hostility" to the church. Among the most courageous demonstrations of opposition inside Germany were the 1941 sermons of Bishop August von Galen of Münster. Nevertheless, wrote Alan Bullock "()either the Catholic Church nor the Evangelical Church... as institutions, felt it possible to take up an attitude of open opposition to the regime".〔Alan Bullock; Hitler, a Study in Tyranny; HarperPerennial Edition 1991〕 In every country under German occupation, priests played a major part in rescuing Jews, but Catholic resistance to mistreatment of Jews in Germany was generally limited to fragmented and largely individual efforts. Mary Fulbrook wrote that when politics encroached on the church, Catholics were prepared to resist, but that the record was otherwise patchy and uneven, and that, with notable exceptions, "it seems that, for many Germans, adherence to the Christian faith proved compatible with at least passive acquiescence in, if not active support for, the Nazi dictatorship". Catholics fought on both sides in the Second World War. Hitler’s invasion of predominantly Catholic Poland ignited the conflict in 1939. Here, especially in the areas of Poland annexed to the Reich - as in other annexed regions of Slovenia and Austria - Nazi persecution of the church was intense. Many clergy were targeted for extermination. Elsewhere, the Nazi aligned nationalist regimes in Croatia gave privileges to the church. Through his links to the German Resistance, Pope Pius XII warned the Allies of the planned Nazi invasion of the Low Countries in 1940. From that year, the Nazis gathered priest-dissidents in a dedicated clergy barracks at Dachau, where (95%) of its 2,720 inmates were Catholic (mostly Poles, and 411 Germans) and 1034 priests died there. Expropriation of church properties surged from 1941. The Vatican, surrounded by Fascist Italy, was officially neutral during the war, but used diplomacy to aid victims and lobby for peace. Vatican Radio and other media spoke out against atrocities. While Nazi antisemitism embraced modern pseudo-scientific racial principles, ancient antipathies between Christianity and Judaism contributed to European antisemitism. During the Nazi era, the church rescued many thousands of Jews by issuing false documents, lobbying Axis officials, hiding them in monasteries, convents, schools and elsewhere; including in the Vatican and papal residence at Castel Gandolfo. The Pope’s role during this period is contested. The Reich Security Main Office called Pius XII a "mouthpiece" of the Jews. His first encyclical, ''Summi Pontificatus'', called the invasion of Poland an "hour of darkness", his 1942 Christmas address denounced race murders and his ''Mystici corporis Christi'' encyclical (1943) denounced the murder of the handicapped. ==Overview== In the 1930s, Catholics constituted a third of the population of Germany and "Political Catholicism" was a major force in the interwar Weimar Republic. Prior to 1933, Catholic leaders denounced Nazi doctrines while Catholic regions generally did not vote Nazi. Though hostility between the Nazi Party and the Catholic Church was real, the Nazi Party first developed in largely Catholic Munich, where many Catholics, lay and clerical, offered enthusiastic support.〔Ericksen, 2012, pp. 47-49〕 This early () affinity lessened after 1923. By 1925, Nazism had embarked on a different path following its reconstitution in 1920 taking a decidedly anti-Catholic-anti-Christian identity.〔Derek Hastings, Catholicism and the Roots of Nazism, Oxford Press, 2011, preface.〕 In early 1931, the German Bishops issued an edict excommunicating all Nazi leadership and banned Catholics from membership. The ban was conditionally modified in the Spring of 1933 under pressure to address State law requiring all Civil Servants and Trade Union workers be members of the Nazi Party, while retaining condemnation of core Nazi ideology.〔Scholder, Klaus, The Churches and the Third Reich. 2 vols. Fortress Press, 1988 pp. 150-162〕 In early 1933, following Nazi successes in the 1932 elections, lay Catholic monarchist Franz von Papen, and acting Chancellor and Presidential advisor, General Kurt von Schleicher, assisted Adolf Hitler's appointment as Reich Chancellor by President Paul von Hindenburg. In March, amidst the intimidating atmosphere of Nazi terror tactics and negotiation〔William L. Shirer, Rise and Fall of the Third Reich, Simon & Schuster, 1959, pp. 188-204〕 following the Reichstag Fire Decree〔Dietrich Bracher, The German Dictatorship, p.250〕 the lay Catholic Centre Party, (led by prelate Ludwig Kaas), on condition demand of a written commitment the President's veto power be retained,〔William L. Shirer, The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich, 1959, pp. 188 - 202〕 the allied BNVP and the monarchists DNVP voted for the Enabling Act. The Center Party's attitude had become crucial since the act could not be passed by the Nazi and DNVP coalition alone. It marked the transition in Adolf Hitler's reign from democratic to dictatorial power.〔Ericksen, Complicity in the Holocaust, Churches and Universities in Nazi Germany p.52〕 By June 1933 the only institutions not under Nazi domination were the military and the churches.〔Evans 2005, p. 14〕 The Reichskonkordat treaty of July 1933, signed between Germany and the Holy See, pledged to respect the autonomy of the Catholic Church, but required clerics to refrain from politics. Hitler welcomed the treaty, though he routinely violated it in the Nazi struggle with the churches.〔 * Evans, 2008, pp. 245–246 * Shirer, 1990, pp. 234–35 * Hamerow, 1997, p. 136 * Gill, 1994, p.57 * Kershaw, 2008, p. 332 * Paul O'Shea; ''A Cross Too Heavy''; Rosenberg Publishing; p. 234–5 ISBN 978-1-877058-71-4 * Ian Kershaw; ''The Nazi Dictatorship: Problems and Perspectives of Interpretation''; 4th Edn; Oxford University Press; New York; 2000"; pp. 210–11 * Peter Hoffmann; ''The History of the German Resistance 1933–1945''; 3rd Edn (First English Edn); McDonald & Jane's; London; 1977; p.14〕 When president Hindenberg died in August 1934, the Nazi regime claimed jurisdiction over all levels of government and a referendum confirmed Hitler as sole Führer (leader) of Germany. A Nazi program known as ''Gleichschaltung'' sought control of all collective and social activity and interfered with Catholic schooling, youth groups, workers and cultural groups. The church insisted on its loyalty to the nation, but resisted regimentation and oppression of church organizations and contraventions of doctrine such as the sterilization law of 1933. Hitler's ideologues Goebbels, Himmler, Rosenberg and Bormann hoped to de-Christianize Germany, or at least distort its theology to their point of view.〔 *Sharkey, (Word for Word/The Case Against the Nazis; How Hitler's Forces Planned To Destroy German Christianity ), New York Times, 13 January 2002 * Griffin, Roger ''Fascism's relation to religion'' in Blamires, Cyprian, (World fascism: a historical encyclopedia, Volume 1 ), p. 10, ABC-CLIO, 2006: "There is no doubt that in the long run Nazi leaders such as Hitler and Himmler intended to eradicate Christianity just as ruthlessly as any other rival ideology, even if in the short term they had to be content to make compromises with it." * Mosse, George Lachmann, (Nazi culture: intellectual, cultural and social life in the Third Reich ), p. 240, Univ of Wisconsin Press, 2003: "Had the Nazis won the war their ecclesiastical policies would have gone beyond those of the German Christians, to the utter destruction of both the Protestant and the Catholic Church." * Shirer, William L., (Rise and Fall of the Third Reich: A History of Nazi Germany ), p. p 240, Simon and Schuster, 1990: "the Nazi regime intended eventually to destroy Christianity in Germany, if it could, and substitute the old paganism of the early tribal Germanic gods and the new paganism of the Nazi extremists." * Fischel, Jack R., (Historical Dictionary of the Holocaust ) , p. 123, Scarecrow Press, 2010: "The objective was to either destroy Christianity and restore the German gods of antiquity or to turn Jesus into an Aryan." *Dill, Marshall, (Germany: a modern history ) , p. 365, University of Michigan Press, 1970: "It seems no exaggeration to insist that the greatest challenge the Nazis had to face was their effort to eradicate Christianity in Germany or at least to subjugate it to their general world outlook." *Wheaton, Eliot Barculo (The Nazi revolution, 1933–1935: prelude to calamity:with a background survey of the Weimar era ), p. 290, 363, Doubleday 1968: The Nazis sought "to eradicate Christianity in Germany root and branch."〕〔Bendersky, Joseph W., (A concise history of Nazi Germany ), p. 147, Rowman & Littlefield, 2007: "Consequently, it was Hitler's long range goal to eliminate the churches once he had consolidated control over his European empire."〕 The regime moved to close all Catholic institutions which were not strictly religious. Catholic schools were shut by 1939, the Catholic press by 1941.〔〔Hamerow, 1997, p. 136〕 Clergy, women and men religious, and lay leaders were targeted. During the course of Hitler's rule, thousands were arrested, often on trumped up charges of currency smuggling or "immorality".〔Shirer, 1990, pp. 234–5〕 Germany's senior cleric, Cardinal Bertram, developed an ineffectual protest system, leaving broader Catholic resistance to individual conscience. By 1937 the church hierarchy, which initially sought dètente, was highly disillusioned. Pius XI issued the ''Mit brennender Sorge'' encyclical. It condemned racism, accused the Nazis of violations of the Concordat and "fundamental hostility" to the church.〔 The regime responded by renewing its crackdown and propaganda against Catholics.〔Evans, 2005, pp. 245–246〕 Despite violence against Catholic Poland, some German priests offered prayers for the German cause at the outbreak of war. Nevertheless, security chief Reinhard Heydrich soon orchestrated an intensification of restrictions on church activities. Expropriation of monasteries, convents and church properties surged from 1941. Bishop August von Galen's ensuing 1941 denunciation of Nazi euthanasia and defence of human rights roused rare popular dissent. The German bishops denounced Nazi policy towards the church in pastoral letters, calling it "unjust oppression".〔Fest, 1997, p. 377〕〔''The Nazi War Against the Catholic Church''; National Catholic Welfare Conference; Washington D.C.; 1942; pp. 74–80.〕 Pius XII, former nuncio to Germany, became Pope on the eve of war. His legacy is contested. As Vatican Secretary of State, he advocated Détente via the Reich Concordat, hoping it would build trust and respect within the regime, and assisted in drafting the anti-Nazi ''Mit brennender Sorge''. His first encyclical, ''Summi Pontificatus'', called the invasion of Poland an "hour of darkness". He affirmed the policy of Vatican neutrality, but maintained links to the German Resistance. Controversy surrounding his reluctance to speak publicly in explicit terms about Nazi crimes continues.〔Ventresca, 2013, p. 207〕 He used diplomacy to aid war victims, lobbied for peace, shared intelligence with the Allies, and employed Vatican Radio and other media to speak out against atrocities like race murders. In ''Mystici corporis Christi'' (1943) he denounced the murder of the handicapped. A denunciation from German bishops of the murder of the "innocent and defenceless", including "people of a foreign race or descent", followed.〔Evans, 2008, pp. 529–30〕 While Nazi antisemitism embraced modern pseudo-scientific racial principles, ancient antipathies between Christianity and Judaism contributed to European antisemitism. Under Pius XII, the church rescued many thousands of Jews by issuing false documents, lobbying Axis officials, hiding them in monasteries, convents, schools and elsewhere; including the Vatican and Castel Gandolfo. In regions of Poland, Slovenia and Austria annexed by Nazi Germany, Nazi persecution of the Church was at its harshest. In Germany and its conquests, Catholic responses to Nazism varied. The papal nuncio in Berlin, Cesare Orsenigo, was timid in protesting Nazi crimes and had sympathies with Italian Fascism. German priests in general were closely watched and often denounced, imprisoned or executed, such as German priest-philosopher, Alfred Delp. From 1940, the Nazis gathered priest-dissidents in dedicated clergy barracks at Dachau, where (95%) of its 2,720 inmates were Catholic (mostly Poles, and 411 Germans), 1034 died there. In Polish areas annexed by Nazi Germany, the Nazis attempted to eradicate the church and over 1800 Polish Catholic clergy died in concentration camps; most notably, Saint Maximilian Kolbe. Influential members of the German Resistance included Jesuits of the Kreisau Circle and laymen such as July plotters Klaus von Stauffenberg, Jakob Kaiser and Bernhard Letterhaus, whose faith inspired resistance.〔''The German Resistance to Hitler'' p. 225〕 Elsewhere, vigorous resistance from bishops such as Johannes de Jong and Jules-Géraud Saliège, papal diplomats such as Angelo Rotta, and nuns such as Margit Slachta, can be contrasted with the apathy of others and the outright collaboration of Catholic politicians such as Slovakia's Msgr Jozef Tiso and fanatical Croat nationalists. From within the Vatican, Msgr Hugh O'Flaherty coordinated the rescue of thousands of Allied POWs, and civilians, including Jews. A rogue Austrian bishop, Alois Hudal, of the college for German priests in Rome, was an informant for Nazi intelligence. After the war, he and Msgr Krunoslav Draganovic of the Croatian College assisted the so-called "ratlines" facilitating fugitive Nazis to flee Europe. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Catholic Church and Nazi Germany」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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