THE New Zealand Herald AND DAILY SOUTHERN CROSS SATURDAY, DECEMBER 11, 1937 RELIGION IN GERMANY

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXIV, Issue 22909, 11 December 1937, Page 14

THE New Zealand Herald AND DAILY SOUTHERN CROSS SATURDAY, DECEMBER 11, 1937 RELIGION IN GERMANY

; In the course cf the past few ; days have appeared indications of renewed stirrings in Germany about the relations of Church and States At the beginning of the month a speech was delivered by Herr Hans Kerrl, Nazi Minister for Church , Affairs, who then said that the • Government had finally given up its effort to turn the Church into an organ of the State. He went . further, giving an assurance that the Government no longer intended either to indoctrinate the Church with Nazi principles or to decree the separation of the Church from the State. Nevertheless. State subsidies to it and its right to raise taxes would be gradually withdrawn, on the principle of equal treatment for all religious institutions and communities in Germany. In Protestant circles it was believed, according to a comment from Berlin, that the change of policy so announced might facilitate a settlement of the long-standing dispute , between the Church and the State; but this belief was seriously quali- ■ lied by a realisation that Herr Kerrl, in spite of his concessions, had not really cleared the way. Whatever degree of self-government he was prepared to yield, the law subjecting the Church to rigorous State supervision was not to be fundamentally modified. He retained the right to interfere with ■ Church administration whenever he pleased. This December was not a week old before thq familiar controversy was bitterly revived. In the official press of Germany the Church in general ' was charged with withdrawing the moral support it was under obligation to give to the State, and , threatened with expropriation of its lands in order to enable the Government to expend considerable sums in meeting the anti-State activity of the Church. There were other signs of renewed conflict. Catholic clergy, througli- > out Germany have publicly read pastorals accusing Herr Kerrl of , making incorrect statements and preventing attempts to combat antiCatholic propaganda. These pastorals asserted that the promises the Government made in the concordat with the Vatican had been broken and the rights of Catholic schools violated. A sidelight on this fresh outbreak of quarrel is furnished' by the recent resolution passed by bishops in Austria, who protested against such happenings in Germany, "where the State is systematically and incessantly proceeding, with the use of force, to extremes in order to eliminate and repress Christian religion, and meets all active resistance with new penalties and persecutions." Evidently the end of such Nazi repression is not to ! be expected. Earnest attempts have been made by what may be called the numerous middle section of the Protestant evangelical clergy to foster friendly relations between Church and State. Lutherans have been accustomed to think of the State, as exercising a protective power over the Church, and a spirit of patriotism has served to strengthen this'attitude. Yet even this influence in favour of a working arrangement between Church and State has been largely nullified by the insistence of the Government on masterful supremacy. Twenty-eight regional Churches, it should be remembered, exist in Geimany, "intact" as they are often called, because they have long maintained their own organisation, with their bishops at their head. But Goering, Goebbels and Kerrl have insistently argued that, at a time when the whole Reich is united, such regional Churches cannot be allowed to persist. Their total membership runs into many millions—the one in Prussia has nearly twenty millionsyet under the Nazi regime they are being compelled to sink their identity in that of the State. The resolute stand of the small Confessional Church, actuated by the Reformed view, descended from' Calvin and therefore placing all authority in the Church itself, has attracted much attentionthere is an even smaller movement, known as the "German Christian," at the other extreme, bent on bringing.the Evangelical Church as a whole into •close alliance with the Nazi Party. The crucial fa«t, however, is that the Nazi creed cannot, without complete surrender of basic Christian doctrine, be acceptable to any Church, Catholic or Protestant. This Nazi creed is cardinally pagan. It exalts "the totality of the soul of the German people," who "can become eternal only through National Socialism." Blood, race, nationality, these are the essence of Nazi religion, dnd therefore the doctrinal basis of the Church, whatever its organised form, must be. displaced, and there can be allowed no freedom to preach the Christian Gospel. This cleavage is so deep that it defies politics to close it, and so wide that no bridge of compromise can span it. Young Germany is being taught to regard the cleavage as permanent. On the signboard of the Hitler Youth Movement quarters at Halle is this: "What are the enemies of our Hitler Youth? They are religious fanatics, who still to-day fall on their kne'es with wistful looks directed upward, who spend their time attending churches and praying. We, as Hitler boys, can regard only with contempt, or derision young people who still to-day run to their ridiculous Evangelical or Catholic clubs to give themselves up to eminently superfluous religious reveries." District orders of the movement encourage this misguided contempt. Such is the fruit of Herr Kcrrl's policy, which is inspired by Nazi racial dogma and equipped with legal means to enforce obedience. But, if history have any true word about such things, he is ;only driving inward, not destroying, the beliefs he despises.