Ethan Walker
While there is a dearth of information on Hitler's personal religious views, his public relationship with religion has been described as one of opportunism. Hitler was raised Catholic and retained some regard for the organisational power of Catholicism, but he had contempt for its central teachings. Hitler's Nazi regime persecuted the Catholic Church in Germany, expelling priests, interfering with welfare institutions, closing schools, forbidding religious instruction, and sending clergy to concentration camps. Hitler's chosen deputy, Martin Bormann, an atheist, recorded in Hitler's Table Talk that Nazism was secular, scientific, and anti-religious in outlook. Hitler's response to Catholics was imprisonment, false trials, dissolving their political and social organisations, ending their services, censoring and destroying their publications.
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What You'll Learn
Hitler's personal views on Catholicism
Hitler's public relationship with religion could be described as opportunistic. In his March 23, 1933, speech to the Reichstag, he referred to Christianity as the "foundation" of German values. This statement caused several bishops to drop their ban on Catholics joining the Nazi Party. However, Hitler's deputy, Martin Bormann, an atheist, recorded in Hitler's Table Talk that Nazism was secular, scientific, and anti-religious in outlook. Hitler himself frequently employed the language of "Providence" in defence of his own myth, but ultimately held a materialist viewpoint, believing that scientific progress would "destroy all myths" and had already disproven Christian doctrine.
Hitler's true views on Catholicism may be inferred from the persecution of the Catholic Church during his regime. The Nazis' long-term plan was to de-Christianize Germany, and they desired the subordination of the church to the state. Hitler permitted various persecutions of the Church, including the closing of Jesuit schools, the confiscation and destruction of church property, and the imprisonment or exile of thousands of Jesuits. Many Catholic priests and leaders were sent to concentration camps, and some were killed.
Despite this persecution, the Catholic Church in Germany did not uniformly oppose Hitler's regime. In the 1933 elections, the proportion of Catholics who voted for the Nazi Party was lower than the national average. However, the Catholic-aligned Centre Party voted for the Enabling Act of 1933, which granted Hitler additional powers. Some Catholic leaders welcomed Hitler's call to "overcome the un-Germanic spirit," fearing that atheistic communism posed a greater threat to the Church than Nazism.
In summary, Hitler's personal views on Catholicism were hostile, and he sought to subordinate the Church to the state. However, his public relationship with religion was opportunistic, and he was willing to restrain his anti-clericalism when necessary. The Catholic Church's response to Hitler's regime was divided, with some leaders expressing cautious support or remaining silent out of fear, while others openly opposed the Nazis and faced persecution as a result.
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Nazi persecution of the Catholic Church
The Catholic Church faced persecution in Nazi Germany. The Nazis claimed jurisdiction over all collective and social activities and desired the subordination of the church to the state. Clergy were closely watched, denounced, and frequently arrested and sent to concentration camps. Catholic schools, press, trade unions, political parties, and youth leagues were eradicated. Monasteries and convents were targeted for expropriation. Catholic welfare institutions were interfered with or transferred to state control. Anti-Catholic propaganda and "morality" trials were also staged.
The Nazis' long-term plan was to de-Christianize Germany after the war. Their ideology could not accept an autonomous establishment whose legitimacy did not come from the government. Catholics were suspected of insufficient patriotism, disloyalty, and serving the interests of "sinister alien forces". Hitler himself occasionally spoke of delaying the Church struggle and restraining his anti-clericalism out of political considerations. However, his own inflammatory comments gave his immediate underlings all the license they needed to turn up the heat in the 'Church Struggle'. Hitler's anti-clericalism was also restrained by important conservative elements, such as the officer corps, which opposed Nazi persecution of the churches.
In Poland, the Nazis brutally suppressed the Catholic Church, most severely in German-occupied areas. Thousands of churches and monasteries were closed, seized, or destroyed, resulting in the permanent loss of many works of religious art and objects. Church leaders were especially targeted as part of an overall effort to destroy Polish culture. At least 1,811 members of the Polish clergy were murdered in Nazi concentration camps. An estimated 3,000 members of the clergy were killed. Hitler's plans for the Germanization of the East did not include Catholicism. The actions taken against Polish Catholicism were part of Generalplan Ost, which, if carried out, would have eventually eradicated the existence of the Poles.
During the war, Hitler called a truce in the Church conflict, not wanting to cause internal friction in Germany. He decreed that "no further action should be taken against the Evangelical and Catholic Churches for the duration of the war". However, documents used in evidence at the Nuremberg Trials show that the Nazis were cautious about murdering church leaders, conscious of not wanting to create martyrs. Nevertheless, Catholic leaders frequently faced violence or the threat of violence, particularly at the hands of the SA, the SS, or Hitler Youth.
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Catholic leaders' attacks on Nazi ideology
The Catholic Church was persecuted in Nazi Germany. The Nazis claimed jurisdiction over all collective and social activity, and the church was closely watched and frequently denounced. Catholic schools, press, trade unions, political parties, and youth leagues were eradicated. Monasteries and convents were targeted for expropriation, and anti-Catholic propaganda and "morality" trials were staged. An estimated one-third of German priests faced some form of reprisal, and many were sent to concentration camps.
During the 1920s and 1930s, Catholic leaders made several attacks on Nazi ideology. German bishops warned Catholics against Nazi racism before Hitler's rise, and some dioceses forbade Nazi Party membership. The Catholic press also condemned Nazism. The German Centre Party, the German Catholic bishops, and the Catholic media were all vocal in their rejection of National Socialism. They denied Nazis the sacraments and church burials, and Catholic journalists wrote daily excoriations of National Socialism in Germany's 400 Catholic newspapers. The hierarchy instructed priests to combat National Socialism at a local level whenever it attacked Christianity.
Cardinal Faulhaber, Archbishop of Munich and Freising, was appalled by Nazism's totalitarianism, neopaganism, and racism. He contributed to the failure of the 1923 Beer Hall Putsch. In 1933, Pius XI issued the encyclical Mit brennender Sorge ("With burning concern"), which was smuggled into Germany to avoid censorship and read from the pulpits of all Catholic churches on Palm Sunday. The encyclical condemned Nazi ideology, accusing the government of violating the Reichskoncordat and attacking the Catholic Church. Cardinal Eugenio Pacelli, Pius' secretary of state, made about 55 protests against Nazi policies, including its "ideology of race".
Despite these attacks, the Vatican was anxious to conclude a concordat with the Nazi government, and the Nazis began to breach the agreement shortly after it was signed. From 1933 to 1936, Pius made several written protests against the Nazis, and his attitude toward Italy changed in 1938 after Nazi racial policies were adopted there. The Vatican took diplomatic action to defend German Jews, and Pius urged Mussolini to ask Hitler to restrain Nazi antisemitism in 1933.
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Hitler's agreement with the Catholic Church
In 1933, almost 40% of Germany’s population was Roman Catholic. As a minority in a country with a Protestant majority, Catholics had always felt vulnerable to accusations that they were not “true Germans” because of suspicions that they “took orders from Rome”.
Hitler was hostile to the Catholic Church, but he was also mindful of Catholics as a large proportion of the population in Germany. Hitler was prepared to restrain his anti-clericalism, seeing danger in strengthening the Church through persecution. Hitler wanted to end all Catholic political life, and the Church wanted protection of its schools and organisations, recognition of canon law regarding marriage, and the papal right to select bishops.
In 1933, Hitler and the Catholic Church signed a concordat, a formal agreement or pact that comes from the Latin word "harmony". By the terms of the concordat, the church renounced all political activities, and in turn, the state guaranteed the right to free worship, to circulate pastoral epistles, to maintain Catholic schools and property.
The Vatican was satisfied as Catholic rights had been put on a new basis, and a regime had been strengthened that seemed to correspond to the Vatican’s sense that Mussolini and Hitler were indispensable bulwarks against Bolshevism. Hitler was also satisfied as the concordat was his first international agreement, and it vastly enhanced his respectability in Germany and abroad.
However, the Nazis began to breach the agreement shortly after it was signed. During the war, persecutions were discontinued so as not to weaken the home front, but the Nazi leaders intended to settle accounts with the Catholics after the final victory. The Church protested whenever its own interests were affected, and it did take an open stand against the regime on certain issues.
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Catholic Bavaria's resentment of Protestant Berlin
Bavaria has a distinct culture, largely due to its Catholic heritage and conservative traditions. It is officially the Free State of Bavaria, a state in the southeast of Germany. It is the largest German state by land area, comprising approximately one-fifth of the country's total land area. In 1925, 70% of Bavarians were Catholic, 28.8% Protestant, 0.7% Jewish, and 0.5% adhered to other religions.
The Bavarian culture (Altbayern) has a long and predominant tradition of the Roman Catholic faith. Pope Benedict XVI (Joseph Alois Ratzinger) was born in Upper Bavaria and was Cardinal-Archbishop of Munich and Freising. The culturally Franconian and Swabian regions of the modern State of Bavaria are historically more diverse in religiosity, with both Catholic and Protestant traditions.
Bavarians have often emphasized a separate national identity, considering themselves "Bavarians" first and "Germans" second. This separate identity was emphasized more strongly when Bavaria joined the Prussia-dominated German Empire in 1871. As Bavaria had a heavily Catholic majority population, many resented being ruled by the mostly Protestant northerners in Prussia. This resentment led to the formation of political parties that encouraged Bavaria to break away and regain its independence.
The Catholic Church in Germany, or the Roman Catholic Church in Germany, is part of the worldwide Catholic Church in communion with the Pope. It is divided into 27 dioceses, with 7 of them holding the rank of metropolitan sees. In December 2022, 28.5% of the total German population remained Roman Catholic.
The Catholic Church suffered persecution in Nazi Germany. The Nazis claimed jurisdiction over all collective and social activity, closely watching and frequently denouncing clergy, arresting them, and sending them to concentration camps. Catholic schools, press, trade unions, political parties, and youth leagues were eradicated, and monasteries and convents were targeted for expropriation. The Nazis' long-term plan was to de-Christianize Germany after winning the war, as their ideology could not accept an autonomous establishment whose legitimacy did not come from the government.
The Nazis' persecution of the Catholic Church in Germany led to the imprisonment and killing of thousands of Catholics, including priests and lay leaders. The Church was systematically harassed by a totalitarian regime that could not tolerate any rival force.
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Frequently asked questions
Hitler was raised Catholic but stopped practising the religion when he left home. He retained some regard for the organisational power of Catholicism but had contempt for its central teachings. He also particularly disliked Catholicism's separate organisations and its radical priests and nuns.
Hitler was a skeptic of religion and believed that science would eventually destroy all religious myths. He was also critical of the churches and their interference with the state.
Hitler believed in the same God as Christians but was not a practising Christian. He believed that Christianity had halted progress in Europe and held back scientific research.
Hitler's intentions were to eventually eliminate Christianity in Germany or at least reform it to suit a Nazi outlook. The Nazis' long-term plan was to de-Christianize Germany.
Hitler moved quickly to eliminate Political Catholicism. Catholic schools, press, trade unions, political parties and youth leagues were eradicated. Anti-Catholic propaganda and "morality" trials were staged. Prominent Catholic lay leaders were murdered, and thousands of Catholic activists were arrested.
