THE OTAGO DAILY TIMES SATURDAY, October 28, 1939. THE VATICAN AND GERMANY

Otago Daily Times, Issue 23951, 28 October 1939, Page 10

THE OTAGO DAILY TIMES SATURDAY, October 28, 1939. THE VATICAN AND GERMANY

The protest which the Vatican has addressed to Germany against the oppression of the Catholic Church in the portion of Poland that has passed temporarily into German occupation indicates an extension of the policy of Nazi-ism. It has long been the cause of wonder to peoples in other lands that there has not been more active opposition on the part of the Church to the Hitler tyranny. Some even of the prominent clergy have not been opposed to the Nazi regime. An explanation of that may be that until recently the State had undertaken certain financial obligations to the Church in the matter of providing salaries for the clergy, and that certain of the Catholic associations depended upon the State for subsidies. The extent to which there has been an annulment of these conditions is not clear, but apparently the . Church can receive no further assistance from the State. The main reason, however, why Herr Hitler received Catholic support, despite his openly expressed hostility to Church influence, is that he was regarded as a bulwark against the tide of Bolshevist no-Godism which, backed by the terrific force of the Soviet machine, was a peril to all forms of Christianity. It was the doctrine that no Catholic can be a Communist that led to such extensive support for the Fuhrer. Herr Hitler is by no means himself anti-God. He was originally a Catholic. How far he has abandoned his early faith is perhaps not evident even to himself. The clue to his actions Is solely his own will. What the Fuhrer wills is right, and the Fuhrer always wills what is right, and the sanctity of the law and the titles of all institutions to the right of existence are derived from him. He has laid it down that there can be only one authority in the State. The Church, therefore, must confine itself solely to that which is spiritual. Thus any active Church movement in Germany against the Hitler creed would be regarded as a support for the anti-God ideology —to give it its lordly title—propagated by the prophdts inspired by Marx and Lenin. Consequently, within Germany, since the State — which is Herr Hitler —demands the subservience of every phase of life among the citizens, religion and morals must necessarily become reduced to very narrow limits, except in so far as they are valuable instruments to the National Socialist policy. On the other hand the Papacy has several times made known its displeasure at the measures enforced against the

Pope has done this. And his predecessor in the Papal Encyclical of 1937 warned Catholics against accepting the Third Reich’s use of the blasphemous race-God myth as a concept of Deity. The Encyclical contained also a protest against the misuse of sacred terms for Nationalist purposes, against the setting up of a national racial religion, and agains); the concept of justice as set out in the dogma, “ Right is that which is useful to the nation.” By all these things the position of Catholics in Germany, particularly in South Germany, has been one of great difficulty. It cannot be said that Herr Hitler has attempted to stifle religion as such. He exerts pressure only when he wishes to curtail the sphere of religious action. This makes no direct attack on conscience, nor does it — overtly at all events —make advancement in public life or business difficult for those who remain loyal to the spirit of their Church. One thing Hitler will discover, that as the Church was on the scene a thousand years and more before he arrived, so when he is departing it will still be there, and it will always be the opponent of doctrines that contain the falsities of Nazi-ism.