NEW REICH CHURCH

New Zealand Herald, Volume 78, Issue 24135, 29 November 1941, Page 12

NEW REICH CHURCH

ME!N KAMPF AS BIBLE STAMPING OUT RELIGION (ftecd, 6,1fl p.m.) LONDON, Nov. 27 A leaflet dealing with the establishment of a National Reich Church is now being circulated throughout Germany, says the Times correspondent on the German frontier, The text of it is presumably identical with the document mentioned by President Roosevelt in a recent speech. It is not avowedly sponsored by the State or the Nazi Party, but will undoubtedly receive official recognition at the appropriate time, The essential features of this manifesto are the establishment of a National Reich Church, with absolute power over all Churches throughout the Reich, The Reich Church would serve, exclusively, the nation as an ethical unit, and the Aryan race. The pursuit of these aims would bo conducted untiringly throughout the whole German Reich and colonies. AH other Churches and Church-like bodies, especially those of an international character, would not be tolerated in Germany. The manifesto demands that the Reich immediately confiscate all property belonging to all Churches and confessions. The printing and sale of the Bible in Germany must cease immediately, and the importation of Bibles and other Christian literature must be ruthlessly prohibited. Further, the manifesto proclaims that Mein Kampf is the greatest written document belonging to the German people, "because this is not only the greatest, but the purest, ethical guide for the present-day life of our people."