Hitler's Priests: Catholic Clergy and National Socialism
Sharp historical controversy rages over the relations between the Catholic Church and the Nazi regime of Germany; Hitler’s Pope (1999), by John Cornwell, advanced its thesis right in the title. This similar title is not as categorical in content; instead, it is a meticulous inventory of German priests who actively supported the Nazi Party before and after its ascent to power. Numbering only 138, according to historian Spicer, these priests encountered reproofs from their superior bishops, weakening arguments that in Germany the Roman Catholic Church connived institutionally with Nazism. The proper perspective, Spicer implicitly argues, should be on the individual pro-Nazi priests, a selection of whom he examines in close detail. Some went whole hog, swapping the cassock for an SS uniform, while others propounded National Socialist anti-Semitic ideology in biblical explanations and speeches. Tracking the attention such activities received from appreciative brownshirts and from bishops, Spicer resists overgeneralization and hews to the evidence he turned up in this professionally conducted, original work of research. --Gilbert Taylor