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Tactical objectives:

Utilize a selective process of application to identify impurities found in Bible canon and apocrypha. Use caution regarding the Old Testament, as those written parts are not in alignment with Positive Christianity. The old God is cruel and unfair with his people. Many of the ancient texts were invented by Jews or corrupt by Rabbis.

Christ is the Nordic Amorite and a prime example of Übermensch.

Promote the political objective of national unity by overcoming confessional differences: Establish "national Catholicism" and unite Protestantism into a single unitary positive Christian state, through Reichskonkordat, controlled directly by the Nordic Messiah.

Support the Aryan Homeland for all Germanic-related peoples.

## Reichskonkordat

The concordat was signed 20 July 1933, made effective starting 10 September 1933, and remains in force today.

**Preamble**

His Holiness Pope Pius XI and the President of the German Reich [*Paul von Hindenburg*], led by their common desire to consolidate and enhance the existing friendly relations between the Catholic Church and the state in the whole territory of the German Reich in a stable and satisfactory manner for both parties, have decided to conclude a solemn agreement which will supplement the concordats already concluded with some particular German States (Laender) and secure for the others the principles of a uniform treatment of the questions involved.

His Holiness Pope Pius XI has appointed as his plenipotentiary [*a diplomat granted full power to represent*] His Eminence the Most Revered Cardinal Eugenio Pacelli, His Holiness' Secretary of State; and the President of the German Reich [*Paul von Hindenburg*] has appointed as plenipotentiary the Vice-Chairman of the German Reich, Herr Franz von Papen; who, having exchanged their proper form have agreed to the following articles.

**Additional Protocol** {in brackets}

When the signing of the concordat concluded today between the Holy See and the German Reich, the undersigned, being duly empowered to do so, have formulated the following explanations which form an integral part of the concordat itself.

* **Article 1** The German Reich guarantees freedom of profession and public practice of the Catholic religion. It recognizes the right of the Catholic Church to regulate and manage her own affairs independently within the limits of the law applicable to all and to issue – within the framework of her own competence – laws and ordinances binding on her members.

The vagueness of the article would later lead to contradictory interpretations.

* **Article 2** The concordats concluded with Bavaria (1924), Prussia (1929) and Baden (1932) and the rights and privileges of the Catholic Church recognized therein remain unchanged within the territory of the States (Laender) concerned. For the rest of the states provisions of the present concordat shall be fully applicable. These provisions shall also be binding for the said three states in so far as they are relative to matters not regulated by the concordats concluded with those states, or in so far as they complete the arrangements already made.

Affirms the state concordats, Länderkonkordate, with Bavaria (1924), Prussia (1929), and Baden (1932) remain valid.

* **Article 3** In order to foster good relations between the Holy See and the German Reich, an apostolic nuncio will continue to reside, as hitherto, in the capital of the German Reich and an ambassador of the German Reich will reside with the Holy See. (With regard to Art. 3. In accordance to the exchange between the apostolic nunciature and the Reich foreign office on the 11 and 12 March respectively, the apostolic nuncio to the German Reich shall be the dean of the diplomatic corps accredited in Berlin.)

Confirms the Vatican having a Papal Nuncio (diplomat) in Berlin and the German government having an ambassador in Rome.

* **Article 4** The Holy See shall enjoy full freedom in its contact and correspondence with the bishops, clergy and all other members of the Catholic Church in Germany. The same applies to the bishops and other diocesan authorities in their contact with the faithful in all matters of their pastoral office. Instructions, ordinances, pastoral letters, official diocesan gazettes and other enactments concerning the spiritual guidance of the faithful, issued by the ecclesiastical authorities within the framework of their competence, may be published without hindrance and made known to the faithful in the ways heretofore usual.

Article 4 assures the Holy See of full freedom to communicate with the German clergy and for the German bishops to communicate with the laity "in all matters of their pastoral office." The words of qualification in this clause would later be interpreted by the Nazis in its most narrow meaning to limit the Church communications to worship and ritual only.

* **Article 5** The clergy enjoy in the discharge of their spiritual activities the same protection of the state as state officials. The state will proceed according to general provisions of its law in case of any outrage directed against any clergy personally or against their ecclesiastical character or in case of any interference with duties of their office and, if necessary, will provide official protection.
* **Article 6** Clerics and religious are exempt from the obligation to undertake public offices and such obligations as are incompatible with their clerical or religious status. This applies particularly to the office of magistrate, member of a jury in law courts, membership of taxation committees or membership of the fiscal tribunal.
* **Article 7** A member of the clergy can accept an official function or appointment in the state or in any publicly constituted corporation dependent on the state only after having received the *nihil obstat* of his diocesan ordinary [*bishop*], as well as that of the ordinary competent for the place where the seat of the corporation is situated. For important reasons in which the interests of the Church are involved, the *nihil obstat* can be withdrawn at any time.
* **Article 8** The official income of the clergy is exempt from distraint to the same extent as the official salary of the civil servants of the Reich and of the states.
* **Article 9** The judicial and other authorities cannot ask the clergy to give information about matters which have been entrusted to them while exercising the care of souls and which are consequently covered by the obligation of pastoral secrecy.
* **Article 10** The wearing of clerical dress or of a religious habit by lay persons or by clerics or religious who have been forbidden to wear it on the strength of a final and valid decision of the competent Church authority – officially communicated to the state authorities – shall be punished by the state with the same penalties as the misuse of a military uniform.

Articles 5–10 dealt with the status of the clergy under German law. Priests were given protection against any interference in their spiritual activities as well as protection against malicious slander or misuse of clerical dress. Exemption from jury service, and like obligations, was guaranteed and the secrecy of the confessional guaranteed. Members of the clergy could only accept a state appointment so long as the bishop approved and this permission could be withdrawn at any time for important reasons.

* **Article 11** The present organization and delimitation (*boundaries)* of the Roman Catholic dioceses in the German Reich remains at it is. If, however, the rearrangement of a bishopric or of an ecclesiastical province, or any other changes in the delimitation of diocese appear necessary in the future, they will be subject to agreement with the government of the state concerned in case that they involve changes only with boundaries of one German state (Land). In case of rearrangement of changes which exceed the boundaries of one German state, the agreement is to be made with the Reich government, to whose care it shall be left secure the consent of the state governments in question. The same applies to the establishment of new ecclesiastical provinces or alterations therein if these involve several German states. The foregoing provisions are not applicable to the shifting of boundaries which is made only with regard to the local care of souls. In case of a wider reorganization within the German reich, the Reich government shall consult with the Holy See with a view to such regrouping of dioceses and to their delimitation.
* **Article 12** Without prejudice to the provisions of Article 11, ecclesiastical offices can be freely established and altered if no subsidy is asked for from the state funds. The co-operation of the state in establishing and changing the parish communities shall proceed according to the rules which have been arranged with the diocesan bishops; the Reich government will endeavor to achieve a uniform formulation by the state governments of their rules as far as possible.

Articles 11–12 specified that diocesan boundaries had to be made subject to government approval and that ecclesiastical offices could be established if no state funding was involved.

* **Article 13** Catholic parishes and diocesan associations, episcopal sees, bishoprics and chapters, religious orders and congregations, as well as institutions, foundations and property of the Catholic Church administered by ecclesiastical authorities, shall retain or acquire respectively juridical personality, recognized by the State according to the general provisions of civil law. They shall remain publicly recognized corporations as far as they have been such hitherto; the same rights may be granted to the others in accordance with the general law applicable to all. (With regard to Art. 13. It is understood that the right of the Church to levy taxes is guaranteed.)

Article 13 gave to parishes, Episcopal sees, religious orders, etc. juridical personality and granted the same rights as any other publicly recognised body "in accordance with the general law as applicable to all" which subjected the church's prerogatives to legal regulation under civil law. Guenter Lewy viewed this qualification as establishing "a pandora's box of troubles" when the law was effectively in the hands of a regime who wanted to control the church.

* **Article 14** As a rule, the Church has the right to appoint freely to all the Church dignities and benefices without any co-operation on the part of the state or of the civil corporations, unless any other arrangement has been made in previous concordats mentioned in Article 2. As for the appointment to the metropolitan see of Freiburg, in the diocese of the Upper Rhine, it shall be applicable to the two suffragan [*subordinate*] bishoprics of Rottenburg and Mainz, as well as to the bishoprics of Meissen. The same applies in the said two suffragan bishoprics as regards the appointments to the cathedral chapters and the settlement of the rights of patronage. Furthermore, agreement has been reached on the following points. (i) Catholic clerics who enjoy a spiritual office in Germany or exercise there a pastoral or educational activity, must: (a) be German citizens; (b) have obtained a school certificate (certificate of maturity) entitling them to study at a higher German school; (c) have studied philosophy and theology for at least three years at a German state university, an academic ecclesiastical college in Germany, or a papal high school in Rome. (ii) The Bulls containing appointments of archbishops, bishops, coadjutors *cum iure successionis* (right of succession) or of a *prelatus nullis* (a bishop who has jurisdiction independent of a diocese) will not be issued before the name of the selected has been communicated to the Reichsstatthalter in the State (Land) in question, and before it has been ascertained that there are no objections of a general political nature against such a person. The conditions laid down above (i) par (a), (b), (c), can be discarded by mutual agreement between Church and state. (With regard to Art. 14, par. 2, sect. 2. It is understood that if objections of a general political nature exist, they shall be presented as soon as possible. Should they not be presented within twenty days, the Holy See will be entitled to believe there are no objections against the candidate in question. Before an official announcement of the appointment is made, secrecy shall be kept about the candidates concerned. **This article does not establish for the state a right to veto.**)

Article 14 specified appointments of a bishop by the Pope was subject to mutual agreement and communication with the regime that no [general] political impediment existed, while affirming appointments may be made without any co-operation on the part of the state or civil corporations.

* **Article 15** Religious orders and congregations are not subject, on the part of the state, to any particular restrictions as far as their foundation, their various establishments, the number of their members and their qualifications (save, however, for the previsions of art. 15 par. 2), their pastoral or educational activity, their care of the sick and charitable work, the management of their affairs and the administration of their property are concerned. Superiors of religious orders who have their official residence within the German Reich must have German citizenship. Provincials and superiors whose official residence is situated outside the German territory have the right of visitation of their establishments in Germany, even if they have a foreign citizenship. The Holy See will see to it that the organization of the provinces of various religious orders, as regards their establishments in Germany, should be such as to avoid – so far as it can be done – the subordination of German establishments to foreign provincials. Exceptions therefrom may be admitted by mutual agreement with the Reich government, particularly in cases where the small number of establishments in Germany makes the formation of German province impracticable or where special reasons exist for the maintenance of a provincial organization rooted in history and working well in practice.

Article 15 guaranteed religious orders freedom for pastoral, charitable and educational work.

* **Article 16** Before taking possession of their diocese, the *bishops* shall take an oath of loyalty either between the hands of the Reichsstatthalter in the state (Land) in question or between those of the president of the Reich, the formula of which shall be the following: "Before God and on the Holy Gospel I swear and promise, as becomes a bishop, loyalty to the German *Reich* and to the Land of (name of Land)*.* I swear and promise to respect the government established **according to the constitution** and to cause the clergy of my diocese to respect it. In due solicitude for the welfare and the interests of the German Reich, I will endeavor, while performing the spiritual office bestowed upon me, to prevent anything which might threaten to be detrimental to it."

Article 16 specified Bishops must take an oath of loyalty and respect to either the *Reich* governor of the state concerned or to the President of the Reich as established by the constitution. When the treaty was signed and ratified the word *Reich*, or the phrase, German Reich, is not in reference to the so-called "Third *Reich*". It applies to the period of the Weimar Republic which did not officially and fully collapse until the death of President Paul von Hindenburg 2 August 1934 with the passing of a national referendum vote 19 August 1934 consolidating the Office of Chancellor and President, thereby, declaring Adolf Hitler *Führer* of Germany.

* **Article 17** The property and all other proprietary rights of the publicly recognized corporations, institutions, foundations and associations of the Catholic Church will be guaranteed according to the common law of the state. No building used for public worship can be demolished under any pretext or for any reason whatsoever, except if a mutual agreement has been reached beforehand with the competent ecclesiastical authority. (With regard to Art. 17. In so far as building or land belonging to the state have been devoted to ecclesiastical purposes, they will continue to be devoted to them, with due regard, however, to the contracts which might have been concluded about them.)

Article 17 guaranteed, according to the common law, the properties of the church.

* **Article 18** Should the state payments in kind or money, which are made to the Catholic Church, whether based on law, contract, or any other special legal title, be discontinued, the Holy See and the Reich will proceed in due time beforehand to set up amicable agreement the principles according to which the discontinuation is to be carried out. In this connection, a right derived from a legitimate traditional custom is to be considered as a special legal title. Such discontinuation, implying the cessation of a state payment or obligation, must be adequately compensated in favor of the claimant.

Article 18 assured the Church that it would be consulted should the Nazi regime (*or existing government)* try to discontinue its subsidies to the German Catholic church or other legal title without compensation as specified in Article 138 of the Weimar Constitution for all religious organizations.

* **Article 19** Catholic theological faculties in state universities shall be maintained. Their relationship to the Church authorities will be regulated by the provisions of the respective concordats and by the protocols annexed to them, with due regard to the ecclesiastical laws relative to these faculties. The Reich will endeavor to secure for all German Catholic faculties in question a uniform regime in accordance with the general spirit of the regulations concerned. (With regard to Art. 19, sent. 2. The basis referred to consists, at the time when this concordat is being concluded, especially of the Apostolic Constitution *Deus scienitarum dominus* 24 May 1931, and the Instruction of 7 May July 1932.)
* **Article 20** The Church has the right, unless there is some other agreement, to establish theological and philosophical colleges for the training of clergy; if no state subsidies are claimed for these institutions, they will be dependent solely on the ecclesiastical authorities. The establishment, management and administration of seminaries and hostels for clerical students pertains exclusively, within the limits of the law applicable to all, to ecclesiastical authorities. (With regard to Art. 20. Hostels connected with high and secondary schools and administered by the Church will be recognized, from the taxation stand-point, as being in practice ecclesiastical institutions in the proper sense of the word, and as of diocesan origin.)
* **Article 21** Catholic religious instruction in primary, vocational, secondary and higher schools is a regular subject of tuition and is to be taught in accordance with the principles of the Catholic Church. In religious instruction the patriotic, civic and social consciousness and sense of duty will be particularly stressed and cultivated, as this is generally done in the school training. The teaching program of religious education and the selection of text books will be settled with by agreement with the higher ecclesiastical authorities. These authorities will be given the opportunity to control, in harmony with the school authorities, whether pupils are receiving religious instruction in accordance with the teaching and requirements of the Church.
* **Article 22** Mutual agreements shall be arrived at between the bishops and the governments of German states (Laender) with regard to the appointment of the teachers of religion. Teachers who have been declared by the bishop unfit for the further exercise of their teaching function, either for pedagogical reasons or on account of their moral behavior, must not be employed as teachers of religion as long as the obstacle remains.
* **Article 23** The maintenance of the existing Catholic confessional schools and the establishment of new ones is hereby guaranteed. In all localities where parents or guardians request it, Catholic primary schools will be established if the number of their prospective pupils, considered from the point of view of the local school conditions, appears to be sufficient for the establishment of a school corresponding to the standards prescribed by the state legislation.
* **Article 24** Only members of the Catholic Church who can be trusted that they will correspond to the special requirements of a Catholic confessional school, can be employed as teachers in all Catholic primary schools. Within the framework of the professional training of teachers, arrangements will be made to guarantee the education and training of Catholic teachers capable of fulfilling the special requirements of Catholic confessional schools. (With regard to Art. 24. In so far as private institutions are able to satisfy, after the new regulations regarding the education of teachers, the general applicable requirements of the state, the existing establishments of religious orders and congregations will be given due consideration in the accordance of recognition.)
* **Article 25** Religious orders and congregations have the right to establish and run private schools within the limits of the general legislation and conditions laid down by the law. The same qualifications as in state schools can be acquired in these private schools if they follow the teaching program prescribed for state schools. Members of religious orders and congregations are subject, with regard to their employment in private schools, to the general conditions applicable to all.

Articles 19–25 gave protection to the Catholic educational system (Hitler in due course would disregard them).

* **Article 26** Pending a later and more detailed settlement of matters regarding matrimonial law, it is understood that a church wedding may proceed the civil marriage ceremony not only in the case of a grave illness of one of the fiancés which does not permit any delay, but in the case of great moral emergency (which, however, must be confirmed by the competent episcopal authority). In such cases, the parish priest is bound to report the matter at once to the registrar's office. (With regard to Art. 26. It is considered to be a great moral emergency if the timely procuring of documents necessary for the wedding meets with obstacles which are either insuperable or whose removal would be disproportionately costly.)

Article 26 allowed that a church wedding could precede a civil marriage ceremony in certain cases.

* **Article 27** A special and exempt pastoral ministry is conceded to the officers, employees, and men of the Germany army and to their families. An army bishop will be in charge of this pastoral care. His ecclesiastical appointment will be effected by the Holy See after contact has been made with the Reich government in order to select, by mutual agreement, a suitable candidate. The ecclesiastical appointment of the military chaplains and other military clergy will be made by the military bishop after previous consultation with the competent authorities of the Reich. The army bishop can, however, appoint as military chaplains only such priest who have obtained, form their ordinary, permission to engage in military pastoral work and who have obtained an appropriate certificate of fitness. Military chaplains have the rights of parish priests with regard to the troops and other army personnel assigned to their care. An apostolic brief will be issued to regulate in detail the Catholic care of souls in the army. Regulations about the position of army chaplains as state officials will be issued by the Reich government. (With regard to Art. 27, sent. 2. Catholic army officers, personnel and men, as well as their families, do not belong to the local parish communities and are not to contribute to their maintenance. With regard to sent. 4. The apostolic brief will be issued in agreement with the Reich government.)

Article 27 regulated the appointment of military chaplains.

* **Article 28** The Church will be admitted to pastoral visits and to the holding of divine service in hospitals, prisons, and similar public institutions. If a regular care of souls, requiring appointment of clergy as state or public officials, is introduced in such institutions, this will be made by agreement with the higher Church authorities.

Article 28 assured the Church the right to pastoral care in hospitals, prisons and like institutions, which would be violated later by the Nazi regime when it refused the Church's request to carry out services in concentration camps.

* **Article 29** Catholic members of non-German national minorities living within the Reich will not be placed in a worse status with regard to the use of their mother tongue in divine service, religious instruction and Church societies, than is the corresponding legal and practical position of the population of German origin and speech living in the territory of the corresponding foreign state. (With regard to Art. 29. Since the Reich government has shown itself ready to make concessions with regard to non-German minorities, the Holy See declares – confirming hereby the principles which it has constantly maintained regarding the right of using the vernacular in the pastoral ministry, religious instruction and in the activities of Catholic associations – that it will keep in mind, when concluding future concordats with other countries, the inclusion in them of provisions of a similar value for the rights of German minorities there.)

Article 29 granted the same rights to national minorities, with respect to the use of the mother tongue in divine services, as were enjoyed by the German population in the corresponding foreign state.

* **Article 30** On Sundays and Holy Days a prayer will be said for the welfare of the German Reich and its people in episcopal, parish, affiliated and conventional churches in the German Reich, immediately after the High Mass and according to the rules of the Church liturgy.
* **Article 31** Catholic organizations and associations whose activity is devoted exclusively to religious, purely cultural and charitable purposes and which are, as such, subordinated to Church authorities, are protected as to their institution and activities. Catholic organizations which, apart from religious cultural or charitable purposes, have other tasks such as social or professional aims, shall also enjoy the protection of this article 31, paragraph 1, even though their organization may be disposed in associations corresponding to states (Laender), **provided they guarantee to develop their activities outside political parties**. It is reserved to the Reich government and the German episcopate (bishops) to determine by mutual agreement the organizations and associations which fall within the provisions of this article. (With regard to Art. 31, par.4. The principles laid down in par. 4 of this article are equally valid for the labor service.)
* **Article 32** With regard to the special conditions existing in Germany and with regard to the provisions of the present concordat guaranteeing legislation to protect the rights and privileges of the Catholic Church in the Reich and its states (Laender), the Holy See will issue ordinances by which the **clergy and the religious will be forbidden to be members of political parties or to be active on their behalf**. (With regard to Art. 32. It is understood that the same provisions, regarding activity in political parties, will be enacted by the Reich for the non-Catholic confessions. **The conduct which has been stipulated as a duty for the German clergy and members of religious in Art. 32 does not mean any restriction on their preaching and exposition of the dogmatic and moral teachings and principles of the Church, as it is their duty to do.)**

Articles 31–32 relate to the issue of Catholic organizations "devoted exclusively to religious, cultural and charitable purposes" and empowered the Reich government and German episcopate to "determine, by mutual agreement, the organizations and associations which fall within the provisions of this article." Organizations (sponsored by the Catholic Church) that had any political aims no longer had any place in the new Germany; this went without saying and is not even mentioned. Article 32 gave to Hitler one of his principal objectives: the exclusion of the clergy from politics such that "the Holy See will issue ordinances by which the clergy and the religious will be forbidden to be members of political parties or to be active on their behalf." Catholic laity, however, were free to form, engage and propagate political parties and seek political office. The Additional Protocol provisions make clear this prohibition of clergy from political activism does not mean they can not preach on moral teachings and principles of the Church "as it is their duty to do."

* **Article 33** All matters regarding clerical persons or Church affairs which have not been mentioned in the preceding articles will be settled, for the sphere of the Church, according to canon law in force. Should a divergence arise, in the future, as to the interpretation or application of any provisions of this concordat, the Holy See and the German Reich will arrive at an amicable 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 enforced from the day of exchange. In witness hereof the plenipotentiaries (representatives) have signed this Concordat. Signed in the two original exemplars, in the Vatican City, 30 July 1933. Signed: **Eugenio, Cardinal Pacelli**. Signed: **Franz von Papen**.

Article 33 makes provision for settling any difficulties in interpretation of the concordat through "amicable solution by mutual agreement." Article 34 calls for the speedy ratification of the concordat. As the document states, **It was not in force until its ratification 10 September 1933.**

An additional secret protocol was added at its signing. When the concordat was ratified 10 September 1933 it granted Catholic clergy certain exemptions from any future universal army conscription call-ups. As Article 27 states, "A special and exempt ministry is conceded." As the Treaty of Versailles had forbidden Germany from raising a large army, this provision may have been seen by Hitler as the Vatican giving its tacit approval to German rearmament. Papen wrote to Hitler regarding this secret provision and concluded his brief with, "I hope this agreement will therefore be pleasing to you." The provisions of the annexe were inserted at the request of the German Bishops Fulda Conference and the contents were kept so secret that Ernst von Weizsacker, State Secretary in the Foreign Ministry from 1938, did not know of it until informed by the Papal Nuncio Orsenigo in 1939.

1. ↑ Translated and edited by Sidney Z. Ehler and John B. Morall (Westminster, Maryland, The Newman Press, 1954), pp. 487-496
2. ↑ 2.00 2.01 2.02 2.03 2.04 2.05 2.06 2.07 2.08 2.09 2.10 2.11 2.12 2.13 2.14 2.15 2.16 2.17 2.18 2.19 2.20 2.21 2.22 2.23 2.24 2.25 2.26 2.27 2.28 2.29 2.30 2.31 2.32 2.33 2.34 Translated and edited by Sidney Z. Ehler and John B. Morall (Westminster, Maryland, The Newman Press, 1954)
3. ↑ Translated and edited by Sidney Z. Ehler and John B. Morall,(Westminster, Maryland, The Newman Press, 1954) pp. 487–496
4. ↑ 4.00 4.01 4.02 4.03 4.04 4.05 4.06 4.07 4.08 4.09 4.10 4.11 4.12 4.13 4.14 4.15 4.16 4.17 4.18 4.19 Lewy, 1964, pp. 80–85
5. ↑ Lewy, 1964, p. 80
6. ↑ Reich.
7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 Cite error: Invalid `<ref>` tag; no text was provided for refs named `constantine505`

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