Relationship between Catholic Church and Nazi Regime - Essay Example

Relationship between Catholic Church and Nazi Regime As clearly illustrated by David Kertzer, the relationship between the Nazi government and the Catholic Church was so turbulent. Even if many people think that the Nazi regime was mostly against the Semites, the truth is that Catholic Church also became a great victim of the Hitler-led autocratic regime. The fight against the church began right from the time Adolf Hitler was still the Chancellor of Germany. Even though the church was not a political outfit, the autonomy and powers of the church had to be suppressed. By claiming a full control over all the social activities in the German territory, the Nazi government was automatically aiming at dealing with such institutions like the church. So, the idea of dechristianizing Germany was clearly evidenced when, in 1933, Hitler, through his Propaganda Minister Joseph Geobbels started exercising control over the Catholic Church by interfering with its youth groups, schools, cultural societies and even workers clubs. As the sole authority over the land, Nazi could not tolerate the existence of any other authority whose legitimacy had not been granted by the state. So, church being one of such independent institutions, had to be fiercely fought. The dechriastinization of Germany had to be done by openly subordinating the church and stripping it off the powers it earlier enjoyed. So, as this author recounts, Hitler had to seriously take the antichurch war without ever looking back. At one time, he decided to eliminate political Catholicism so as to make the church be under a full control of the state to the extent that it could no longer influence the political climate of Germany. This was effected by molesting, harassing and arresting a large number of church leaders and the clergy. This really created a lot of fear to the church and its followers. It was so sad that even the clergy on whom many people relied on for inspiration and guidance would now be indiscriminately arrested without any proper justification. As events unfolded, the Nazi regime later decided to take more stern action against the church. Kertzer says that the government dissolved the Catholic Church’s youth leagues may be because it was viewed as a radical group that would give rise to dissents. Nonetheless, the state continued targeting the nuns, clergy and lay leaders who were arrested and charged with serious criminal offenses such as the smuggling of currency that came with harsh sentences. Surprisingly, this ruthlessness continued even after the signing of the Reich Treaty between the Nazi regime and Vatican. In 1933, the Nazi government came up with the idea of banning all the political parties that were affiliated to the Catholic Church. May be, this was one of the strategies that would prove to the church that it would not be engaged in the political affairs of the German nation. In 1934, during the Night of the Long Knives purge, Hitler’s commitments to silencing the church was seen when he extended his ruthless the church’s lay leaders who, like their clergy counterparts, were molested, arrested and detained in the concentration camps. This was done even after the signing of the Reich Concordat Treaty in which Nazi had assured Vatican of stopping its war against the church. It is for such actions that Pope Pius XI, in 1937, condemned the Nazi regime for planting hostility against Jesus Christ and His Holy Church. Worse still, the Nazi regime later, in 1940, constructed clergy barracks at the Dachau Concentration Camp. This is a very large number of church ministers were detained. In fact, according to Kertzer’s research, a total of 2,720 clergy were detained here. Of all these, 98.88% were from the Catholic Church. This is a clear indication that Nazi was serious about its attack on church. Its totalitarian ideologies could not allow the state to tolerate anything like such strong religious groups because it might bar it from accomplishing its ultimate goals. So, people had to be tormented regardless of whether they were church leaders or not provided that they would be a threat to the regime. More serious actions were taken to dechristianize the German society. In 1939, the Nazi regime took stern measures against the church and faced out all the catholic schools in 1939 and then banned the Catholic Press in 194. By doing away with Catholic schools and press, it means that the church would lose its relevance, influence and the authority it had on the ordinary Germans. It is only through its press release that the church could avail information to the public. However, by putting a ban on it, the church was automatically silenced. This was a common trend in many autocratic regimes that were fond of taming critics through the gagging and banning of media. This was the case in Germany during this trial period. Since Nazi was serious about finishing the church, it did not limit its attacks to Germany. Instead, it extended them to other annexed territories like Austria, Poland Czech. Here too, churches and schools were dismantled, leaders arrested, monasteries and seminaries attacked. Rather than doing these, the Nazi regime suppressed religious orders, forbade instructions and threw away a large number of clergy to the concentration camps where very many of them died. All these were reportedly done to tame the germination of the East that had been declared a threat by the Nazi state. To conclude, the relationship between the Nazi regime and the Catholic Church was quite turbulent. As explained by Kertzer, it is quite evident that Nazi was a very autocratic regime that could not tolerate any opposition. Anyone who was perceived to be a dissent or potential threat would be ruthlessly dealt with. So, church being one of the most dominant and influential institutions had to be crushed using maximum possible force. This justifies why its schools, publications, monasteries and seminaries were faced out, and its leaders molested and thrown into various concentration camps in which a good number of them perished. Read More