Born in Austria, Adolf Hitler was the leader of the Nazi movement and was named chancellor of the German Republic on 30 January 1933. Two years later he gained complete control of the government. During his rise to power Hitler courted Christian support by emphasizing national pride and pretending to favor the churches' role in the state. In 1933 the Fuhrer signed a concordat with the pope guaranteeing the freedom to practice the Catholic religion, which greatly increased Hitler's prestige and successfully excluded Catholics from German politics, but he had no intention of keeping his part of the bargain. Eventually it was claimed that Nazism itself represented the true fulfillment of Christianity. Hitler would brook no organized resistance from the Church. Eventually the churches were to be subordinated to the "new order," the clergy stripped of all privileges, and Christianity left to suffer what Hitler called "a natural death."
[tags]Adolph-Hitler, BlogRodent,
While the fourteenth century may be too early to speak of "nations" in the modern sense of the term, in 1414 when the Holy Roman Emperor assembled at Constance, Germany to settle the Great Schism, voting for a new Vicar of Christ took place on a purely national basis. Instead of the traditional assembly of bishops, the council included lay representatives and was organized as a convention of "nations". Each nation had one vote.
Ironically, while the beginnings of nationalism may find its roots in Germany, it is in Germany that we may also find its excess. After World War I right-wing governments sprang up all over Europe, but the greatest was German national Socialism, better known as Nazism. The leader of the Nazi movement was Austrian-born Adolf Hitler, who was named chancellor of the German Republic on 30 January 1933. Two years later he gained complete control of
While the beginnings of nationalism finds its roots in Germany, it is in Germany that we find its excess. After World War I right-wing governments sprang up all over Europe, but the greatest was German national Socialism, better known as Nazism. The leader of the Nazi movement was Austrian-born Adolf Hitler, who was named chancellor of the German Republic on 30 January 1933. Two years later he gained complete control of the government. The Nazis taught the world the meaning of totalitarianism. They were a right-wing version of dictatorial rule called "fascism". Such governments counter personal frustration and alienation, as well as social and economic tensions by stressing class unity and reaffirming traditional values. Fascist movements glorify the nation. The Nazis believed in the absolute unity of the German people under the Fuhrer and the expression of this leadership principle in all structures of the nation. By integrating all social,
On 14 May 1937, with the assistance of Eugenio Cardinal Pacelli, the papal secretary of state who was soon to be Pope Pius XII, Pius XI drafted the encyclical With Deep Anxiety (Mit brennender Sorge). It was the first major church document to criticize Nazism. Smuggled into Germany, it was read on Palm Sunday from every Catholic pulpit — before a single copy had fallen into Nazi hands.
In March 1937 Pius issued the encyclical Divine Redemptoris condemning the "error of communism". He criticized the spread of communism, expressed sympathy for the Russian people, and offered the doctrines of the Catholic church as the alternative to communism. He declared that "communism is intrinsically wrong and no one who would save Christian civilization may collaborate with it in any undertaking whatsoever". Coming only four days after his encyclical criticizing Germany, this placed the Vatican firmly on the side of persecuted believers
On 14 May 1937, with the assistance of Eugenio Cardian Pacelli, the papal secretary of state who was soon to be Pope Pius XII, Pius XI drafted the encyclical With Deep Anxiety (Mit brennender Sorge). It was the first major church document to criticize Nazism. Smuggled into Germany, it was read on Palm Sunday form every Catholic pulpit — before a single copy had fallen into Nazi hands.
[tags]BlogRodent, church-history, ChurchRodent, history, Nazism, Pope-Pius-XII[/tags]
