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“There is a Christian morality that confers rights and imposes duties.... The Jews are our brothers. They belong to mankind. No Christian can dare forget that!”
Archbishop Jules Gérard Saliège from Toulouse
Cardinal Bertram Archbishop of Wroclaw
from 1914 to his death, in 1916 appointed Cardinal, in 1945 at 86.
He was President of the German Episcopal Conference; and spokesperson for the Bishops of Germany,
holding ties with Hitler. He said, "warmest congratulations to the Fuhrer in the name of the bishops
and the dioceses in Germany," "fervent prayers which the Catholics in Germany are sending to heaven
on their altars".[Hitler's Pope: The Secret Life of Pius XII] He added concern to the pact with the Reich
over their mistreatment of "non-Aryan Catholics" authoring the distinction between the Church and Nazism
in which the Church maintained Judaism as religion, the Nazis as race. |
Alois Hudal Austrian Bishop who aided Eckhart, Wrote Foundation of National Socialism 1942;
He was instrumental with Pacelli in the foundation work for MIT BRENNENDER SORGE (With Burning Concern)
forming the framework for the Vatican to cautiously work with the Third Reich in matters of anti-communism.
He said, "in this fate hour the foreign German Catholics welcome the coming German Reich, whose bases on Christ
loyalty and people loyalty are to be developed" and warned against misconceived ideas of peace. |
Karl AdamRights of Jewish Converts b.1876-Bavaria.Taught at U of Munich, Strasbourg and in 1919 , U of Tuebingen, home
of many influential Shoah Theologians. Expertise in dogmatic theology and Augustine/Church Fathers. Wrote:
"The Eternal Christ" calling for an adherence to traditional faith and denoucing the Nazis. He was one of a few
Catholic Pastors in 1934 to stand against Hitler and his office during study was riddled with bullets. At odds
doctrinally with Evangelicals, he saw the 'mother church', the roman church as necessary
for salvation. Fled from Nazis for hiding to Bishop of Rottenburg. Argued for equal rights
of Jewish converts to Catholicism who in many churches were being asked to take communion
and sacraments separately. Later divided on issues regarding the Nazis and the faith with Lichtenberg.
Adams was known for his seminal work on the Ikklesia, or the Church body as the body of Christ,
which Catholic adherents would find at opposition with loyalty to the Nazi State.
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Bishop Johannes Baptista Sproll
Johannes Baptista Sproll, who was to become the Bishop of Rottenburg-Stuttgart before and during WWII, was born in 1870 in
Schweinhausen, Ordained a priest in July of 1895, and by 1915 was appointed Bishop of Rottenberg. A priest for 53 years and a
Bishop for almost 35, he was a thorn in the Nazis' side , and the Nazis requested his removal through the German embassy at the Vatican,
due to what they noted as the 'State's interest'. The Nazis threatened a boycot of Sproll, counting him as one of those
clerics whose allegiance was too close to the Church and therefore unfit for Party membership. As noted in an International
Military Tribunal recording:
"The Reich Governor had explained to the Ecclesiastical Authority that he would no
longer regard Bishop Sproll as head of the Diocese of Rottenburg on account of his refraining from
the election in the office and that he desired Bishop Sproll to leave the Gau Württemberg-Hohenzollern
because he could assume no guarantee for his personal safety; that in the case of the return of the Bishop
of Rottenburg he would see to it that all personal and official intercourse with him on the part of
State offices as well as the Party offices and the Armed Forces would be denied."
Source: http://www.holocaust-history.org/works/imt/04/htm/t063.htm |
Prince Adam Sapiea of Krakow
Prince Adam Sapieha, the Archbishop of Kracow
during WWII fought bravely in defense of his native Poland. He influenced the young
Karol Wojtyla who later became Pope John Paul II. Born in 1867, he was ordained in 1893
and became Bishop in 1911. In July of 1945 he was approached for refuge by returning
Jews in the months after liberation. During the War he organized in Krakow the
"underground" seminary attended by the future Pope. While Hlond, a previous leader had warned of Jewish immorality
and urged compliance with boycotts, Sapieha urged interfaith understanding. As Jewish
representatives appealed to his 'noble humanitarianism' to protect them against wanton
violence and bands of persons attacking returning Jews, Sapieha responded,
on July 16, 1945: ... it is our duty to take care of the moral sanity of our
nation. We ought to build our strength on truth, justice and morality.… In our country
there has to be justice for everybody, and it should be denied to none. If disagreement
was a sin that caused the collapse of our fatherland, wild injustice, seeking revenge
and profiting from the suffering of our brothers should be considered an even greater
sin, even a crime. We admit painfully that these acts take place quite often.10
1"http://www1.yadvashem.org/about_holocaust/studies/vol33 /AleksiunEngPrint3.pdf- The Polish Catholic Church and the Jewish
Question in Poland, 1944-1948 Natalia Aleksiunreported to have served Gov. General
Frank a bowl of cold porridge.(suntimes.com). |
Cardinal Faulhaber of Germany
1869-1952. Ordained in 1892, Faulhaber became
a Bishop in 1911 and a Cardinal in 1922. His Bishopric
was in Munich Germany where in 1917, Pacelli had been sent to Munich, to reaffirm Papal authority
and control over German Bishops and dioceases, and to set the groundwork for a concordat which would
follow in 1933 with the Nazi Government. Cardinal Faulhaber, in a sermon in 1937, remarked,
sermon in 1937, declared, "At a time when the heads of the major nations in the world
faced the new Germany with reserve and considerable suspicion, the Catholic Church, the greatest
moral power on earth, through the Concordat, expressed its confidence in the new German government.
This was a deed of immeasurable significance for the reputation of the new government abroad.
cited in "Constantine's Sword"
Faulhaber and other dismissed the proposition of a similar concordat with the Communists: while they did not approve
of Nazi violence, and Church interference, German leaders were encouraging common ground with the Nazis in order to
stand against communism: Faulhaber was a facilitator with Pacelli in this and while initially there was no open endorsement
of the Reich, the concordat with the Reich and not with communists essentially provided one. Pacelli, his cohort became
Pius XII 3-12-39 and one month later directed the new pro nuncio in Germany to produce a birthday celebration for Hitler.
Pacelli directed after the death of Pius XI that he would direct all German affairs. (Hitler's Pope).
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Monsignor Bernhard Lichtenberg
The relationship between the Vatican and the Reich was schizoid in 1933.
Following the 1933 Concordat, many on both sides had mixed views and
agendas: some were stalwartly behind Hitler, others stood cautiously
opposed or neurtral. Bernhard Lichtenberg, a Monsignor in Berlin was one
of the few outspoken Priests in the diocease of Berlin who vehemently
spoke out about the new Regime's brutality and anti-Semitism. Says Spicer:
the majority of Catholics did not feel obliged to make forceful
protests on behalf of Jews or other victims of Nazi repression.
Provost Lichtenberg was the exception, and paid the price of
imprisonment by the Gestapo for his outspoken witness for the Jews1 |
Bishop Preysing
Bishop of Berlin from 1935 on and close friend
and associate of Bettinger, Preysing saw as others after the the
Nazis assasinated Rohm, one of their own, that the Nature of the Reich
was inherently vile, and changing for the worse. He was an outspoken
voice against the true nature of the Nazis, warning Catholics that they
were not the conservative negotiators of the 1933 concordat. Preysing was
also the Bishop to whom von Stauffenberg and others pleaded to intercede with
the Vatican , asking questions regarding the ethics of killing a tyrant. Reports
Catholic Herald:
Von Stauffenberg reportedly met with Cardinal Count Preysing of Berlin
to discuss this matter, and his eminence honored the motives and offered no theological objection to restrain him. In so
doing, Cardinal Preysing placed his own life in jeopardy with the Gestapo, but was never implicated in
the plot.11 1 Von Stauffenberg, Bonhoeffer, Canaris and others were later
implicated in a failed attempt on Hitler's life which resulted
in their imprisonment and death. Preysing was also a formidable presence after the war in restoration of areas in his
region urging his congregates to move towards democratic forms of government and a right conscience.
He also was the Bishop to whom Pius wrote regarding his reasons for his silence on the Jews:
In 1944, Pius wrote Berlin's Bishop Preysing that he had been deeply saddened by
what was happening to the Jews, but that he could not have spoken out for fear the Germans
would destroy Rome.13 He died in 1950. |
Archbishop Cassulo of Romania
The Papal Nuncio of Romania, Cassulo, received a communique from Pius.
He was also the Archbishop contacted by the Chief Rabbi of Romania, to seek
intervention with Rome for the Jews of Romania.
Says Jewish Virtual Library:
The nuncio's efforts were supported by the Swedish and Turkish
ambassadors, and by the delegates of the International Red Cross. At the same time, the Jewish Council achieved the annulment
of the order to deport to Transnistria 12,000 Jews accused of having committed crimes or breaches of discipline.
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Cardinal Innitzer
Theodore Innitzer was
born December 25, 1875 in Neugeschrei near Weipert, Northern BohemiaCardinal Innitzer of Austria will be reknown
in history for his collaboration with and welcome of the Nazis into Austria during the Anschluss. He
had Reich flags hung from the balconys of the Catholic Churches, and had the Church bells rung as the
Nazis entered his native country to occupy it. He and other Bishops in Austria signed a supporting document
of the Anschluss, and Innitzer greeted Hitler in person. Innitzer already had mixed reviews for his support
of the fascist government of Duldoss. So outlandish was his conduct considered, that he
was censured by the Vatican, and required to amend his statements. At a children's rally later, he
seemed to alter positions, declaring "There is no Führer but Hitler". In the days following,
his rectory was ransacked. Tagged "the heil Hitler Cardinal" his record has remained controversial.
Cardinal Innitzer died October 9, 1955 in Vienna.12 |
von Papen-German Chancellor and Papal Chamberlain
October 29, 1879 - May 2, 1969-Von Papen joined the Centre Party, and in the 1925 election supported Hindenburg, over the party favorite, earning him disfavor. In 1932,with no office in the Reichstag, he was appointed Chancellor, replacing Brüning. Three days later he resigned his
party membership. Von Papen was forced to relinquish the chancellorship
by December to Schleicher, who failed in the face of growning Nazi
support. Leaning on his favor with Hindenburg, Von Papen cut a deal with
Hitler, to support him for Chancellor with Von Papen as Vice-Chancellor.
Von Papen 'retired' after the Purge of the Night of Long Knives, in
which many Nazi adversaries and formerly favored members were murdered
included Von Papen's secretary and speech writer: he served durng th war
years as ambassador to Austria and Turkey. Von Papen, a Catholic, was
one of the persons instrumental in the Concordat of 1933with the
Vatican, creating ties with the new Nazi Government forming in January
1933. His role of a 'vatican chancellor' is noted in Wikipedia:
In 1923 Papen had received the honorary dignity of a Papal
chamberlain. After Pope Pius XI had died in 1939, his successor Pius
XII did not renew this appointment, probably in the light of Papen's
political role. John XXIII however, who was acquainted with Papen
from his years as nuntius to Greece and Turkey, *revived this honour
on July 24, 1959*. Von Papen died in 1969 at the age of 89.
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American jesuit John La Farge
One of the drafters of " Humani Generis Unitas " the encyclical on the
equality of races which differentiatied the Vatican dissent against
Judaism from the Nazi dissent: the Vatican decried racial anti-semitism,
but continued in religious anti-semitism, a paradox in light of Pius's
words 'we are semites'.2,3 La Farge, son of the famous American painter
of the same surname, was a young man active in writing on racial concerns in the
US Church in New York near the beginning of the Shoah. With 2 others, he was asked
to draft the Humanis Generis Unitas, or 'One Human Race for Pius XI to clearly counter
the racial hatreds of the Nazis met post 1933 concordat. The draft was on the
desk of Pius the day he died, and ended up in the hands of Ledochowski, and never
appeared again. Instead, the more obscurely worded 'Mit Brennender Sorge',[with burning
concern] addressed concerns of racial intolerance, as the Vatican kept different
perspectives on racial vs doctrinal 'anti-Semitism'. Pacelli, Pius XI's replacement
had not been in favor of the new document, and rumors and intrigue have at times
come up regarding the mysterious 'Hidden Encyclical' which some feel would have
made a dramatic difference in Vatican intervention in WWII. LaFarge went on
to become eminent in the US in both Jesuit and general circles, dying only a few
years ago in xxxx. Says Wikipedia,"Another Jesuit translated the draft
encyclical into Latin, presenting it to Vladimir Ledochowski, then the General of the
Society of Jesus[4]—who had chosen Gundlach and Desbuquois for the project.[1] The draft
encyclical was delivered to the Vatican in September 1938.[1]
Some secondary sources—as well as Cardinal Tisserant the Dean of the College of Cardinals[5]—
claim that Humani Generis Unitas was literally on Pius XI's desk when he died of a heart attack on February 10, 1939.[3]
Pope Pius XII, who succeeded Pius XI, did not promulgate the
encyclical. Critics of Pius XII—notably John Cornwell in his controversial work Hitler's
Pope—have cited his failure to promulgate the encyclical as evidence of his alleged silence
toward anti-Semitism and The Holocaust,[1][2] and analysis of the encyclical figures
prominently in most comparisons of the policies of Pius XII and his predecessor.[4]
" A new resource on the web claims the '38 text at
BC.edu
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Gundlach
Gundlach was born of a Catholic mother and Protestant
father April 3, 1892, in Geisenheim in the Rheingau. Another German who would become instrumental
in the Vatican in WWII, he joined the Jesuit order in Germany at a time it was outlawed. He is known
as the father of modern Catholic Social reform, writing voluminously on doctrine and Catholic theology
as applied to modern technology and social concerns, a Catholic parallel to the "Social Gospel".
Gundlach, while recommended and mentored in the vatican by Ledochowski, questioned his redirection of
the hidden encyclical Humani Generis Unitas. Some report that he authored the first major section and
treatise of the 'hidden encyclical', although he has been criticized as defending a form of doctrinal
anti-Semitism. |
Rabbi Safran of Romania
Rabbi Safran of Romania was the
chief Rabbi during the years 40-46. He was noted for keeping the Jews of Romania
safe from the Nazis as long as possible while continuing to build the morale of
the community by keeping structured activites and benevolences going.
He interceded with Cassulo, the Archbishop who in turn intervened with Rome.
At the end of the war, unable to consort with communist objectives in the
Jewish community, he left office and expatriated eventually to Zurich, where he still lives
today.
Declared Safran,
[12/3/1944] "My permanent contact with, and spiritual closeness
to, His Excellency the Apostolic Nuncio, the Doyen of the Diplomatic Corps
of Bucharest, were decisive for the fate of my poor community. In the house
of this high prelate, before his good heart, I shed my burning tears as the
distressed father of my community, which was hovering feverishly between
life and death." 10
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Wladimir Ledochowski: Jesuit General
Pius XI in the late 30s made
a monumental move: the first writing of an Encyclical which at least
in part denounced racial anti-Semitism. It is referred to as "the
hidden Encyclical". Pius XI requested American Jesuit Msgr LaFarge
to draft the statement which upheld traditional Catholic doctrine against
Jewish doctrine but decried racism against the Jews, and countered at
least part of the intent of the 1933 Vatican Concordat with Nazi Germany.
Ledochowski was the austere politician and Jesuit General at the time,
and he was not in favor of the new document. It mysteriously disappeared
and Pius died before the signing, although it was one of the last documents
on his desk. The document: Humani Generis Unitas, or "The Unity of the Human Race" might have made a difference in the Vatican's allowance of the Third Reich's
policies. Pius died, Pius XII, more a politician and diplomat than theologian
and with ties to Germany and von Papen took office rapidly. Ledochowski is
credited with being instrumental in the suppression of the document. |
Archbishop of Bukovina, *Tit Simedria*
The Archbishop of Bukovina, where
mass deportations, brutality and killings took place. Rabbi Safran (see above)
interceded with him and the Queen to interecede with Antonescu to stop the deportations
of the Jews from the area. Bukovina eventually went partly over to Soviet occupation,
but mass killings of the Einsatzgruppen "D", under Ohlendorf occurred there,
but Romainian soldiers also killed many Jews in retreating from the area. It is
estimated that half of the Jews in the area 160,000, out of 320,000 perished in Bukovina and her surrounds.
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Cardinal Schuster
Born in 1888 and dying in 1954,
Alfredo Schuster was canonized. During WWII, he supported the Facist imperialism of
Mussolini, and the invasion of Northern Africa via Ethiopia as a holy mission, stating:
. "The Italian (Fascist) flag," he said, "is at the moment bringing in triumph
the Cross of Christ in Ethiopia, to free the road for the emancipation of the slaves,
opening it at the same time to our missionary propaganda." (T. L. Gardini,
Towards the New Italy).
He arranged for the escape or at least offered the facilitation of arrangement for Mussolini,
who was nonetheless caught and hung. He was widely known for censorship issues, and
became one of the key Catholic figures to introduce modern mariology including the heresy
of Mary as "Co-Redemtrix" or having a role in salvation.
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Reichminister Kerrl
Reichminister Kerrl born in 1887 in Fallerbeban,was noted as having an "implicit commission to reach a synthesis between Nazism and Christianity"- while his 'mission' had some successes in adherents in teh DC, it eventually left him in disfavor with both. Named the Minister of Ecclesiatical Affairs, [Reichsminister für die Kirchelichen Angelegenheiten
by Hitler in 1935 he did manage to get certain factions of the "KirchenKampf" or Church Struggle to mediate differences, . By 1936, though, his efforts had decayed, and he fell out of favor with the Protestant Church since the Protestants did not trust him and the National Socialists grew to distrust the office as well, ceasing to work with him.11 |
Johann Heinrich Ludwig Müller
Born June 23, 1883, Muller became Hitler's appointed Bishop. As the Weimar sawan encroachment by Catholic Socialists in what had been for centuries a 'Protestant State',a main Protestant complaint and fear came with Catholic rule over what had beennot a theocracy but a closely knit State-church or 'Church-State'. Even parochialschools and institutions such as hospital were also under state auspices or funding.
Hitler brought a State supported and officed 'Bishop' into the ranks in order assure
State interest in the Church. Müller, however fell in and out of favor with both
the Church and Hitler and the Nazi Party. The Confessing Church rarely supported him,the DC, the Nazi-integrated Church often did but not always and the Nazi Party was not able ultimately to gain the control they wished through their Bishop.
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REFERENCES
1 Conway, J. Association of Contemporary Church
Historians;(Arbeitsgemeinschaft kirchliche Zeitgeschichtler) Newsletter
- September 2005 - Vol. XI., no 9.
2 Phayer, Michael *The Catholic Church and the Holocaust: 1930-1965*;
Bloomington, IN; IUPRESS,2000.
3 Peet, Garnet. A History of the Protestant Church Under the Third
Reich. Spindleworks,com.
4 Catholic Hierarchy: http://www.catholic-hieracry.com
5 Wikipedia.com
6 Catholic Encyclopedia
7 Ericksen, Michael *Theologians of the Third Reich*
8 http://www.catholicleague.org/piusxii_and_the_holocaust/quesjud4.htm
(on Safran and Cassulo) 9http://www.bautz.de/bbkl/g/gundlach_g.shtml:
Biographisches-Bibliographisches Kirchenlexicon: Gundlach
9Marian Coredemption in the Hagiography of the 20th Century
10Pius XII & the Holocaust at:http://www.catholicleague.org/piusxii_and_the_holocaust/deported.htm
by Rev. Stefano Manelli, F.I.
11Saunders, William,"Does the Church Condone Tyrannicide?", Catholicherald.com
(9/27/01)
12Wikipedia.Org: Cardinal Innitzer
13 Phayer,Michael, Canonizing Pius XII: why did the pope help Nazis escape?
Commonweal, 5-9-2003
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