Did the Catholic Church Influence German Nazism?

Enmity sums it up in one word. Hitler hated the Catholic Church, and the Nazis put around 30,000 Catholic priests to death either directly or through starvation in concentration camps. He even planned to take over the Vatican when the time was right.

Targeting the Jesuits

A certain sect of the Catholic Church—specifically the Jesuits, or the Society of Jesus—was targeted and hated by Adolf Hitler. Although I condemn and despise Hitler as an evil human being, the Jesuits are particularly disgusting, and their oath is beyond vile.

Church-Nazism Relationship

In the early 1930s, the relationship between the Catholic Church and Nazism was marked by excommunication. After the Nazis gained power, the Church cooperated in recognizing the Nazis as the leaders of Germany, but it never embraced Nazi policies. The Nazis first tried to control the church and later attempted to replace it.

After World War II, the Church was recognized by Jewish leaders for saving approximately 860,000 Jews from the Holocaust. However, it is noteworthy that Francis apologized for the atrocities committed by the Catholic Church over the years, without making any restitution. This implies that the Church was complicit in crimes against humanity, particularly crimes against children.

Protestantism and the Catholic Church

Like Protestantism, not as much as we would have liked, many Catholics tended to keep their heads down to avoid reprisals, and some even joined Nazi positions. The Catholic Church, similar to Protestantism, was far from a mass movement, especially in rural areas.

Nazism and Rejection of Christianity

Nazism was essentially a rejection of Christianity and the adoption of a sort of Aryan neo-paganism. The Nazi race theories about Aryan superiority were in direct contradiction to Catholic teachings about the equality of all races, and their exaltation of the State and the Fuehrer were contrary to Catholic social teachings about the value of the individual and the family, as well as the limited powers of the State. Hitler’s obsessive hatred of the Jews can be traced back to Luther’s writings and some popular medieval anti-Semitic attitudes.

Some leading Nazis were ex-Catholics who had left the religion for Nazi politics. Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels, for example, became infatuated with Hitler and was drawn into Nazi politics. In his diary entries from late 1923 to early 1924, he reflected a man who was isolated and preoccupied.

During Himmler’s search for a worldview in the early 1920s, he abandoned Catholicism and focused on the occult and anti-Semitism. Germanic mythology combined with occult ideas became his religion. While Hitler had a long-term objective of annihilating both Catholic and Lutheran churches within Germany, as Nazism was a totalitarian system that brooked no philosophical opposition, seeking total control of the population and its ideas, it is undeniable that those with no firm religious-philosophical convictions were more likely to be deceived by demagogues like Hitler.

Catholic Bishop's Influence

The Catholic Church therefore had little influence on Nazism. Since 30% of Germans were Catholics, Hitler could not afford to alienate them at the start. However, one instance where a Catholic bishop had a major influence on Nazi policies unfolded in 1941, when Blessed Clemens August Graf von Galen, Bishop of Münster, was an outspoken critic of the Nazis.

In the summer of 1941, Bishop von Galen delivered three sermons between July and August, addressing the National Socialist regime's attacks. He spoke about the state confiscation of Church property and the regime's euthanasia program. His clear and incisive words, combined with the unshakable fidelity of Catholics in the Diocese of Münster, embarrassed the Nazi regime. On October 10, 1943, the bishop's residence was bombed, forcing him to take refuge in Borromeo College. In response, the Nazis halted the T4 program, which led to the mass killing of tens of thousands of the mentally and physically handicapped, insane, and chronically ill. Euthanasia continued, but not on such a large scale, with many T4 staff transferred to Operation Reinhold camps.

In summary, while the Catholic Church's influence on Nazism was minimal, isolated instances, such as those of Bishop von Galen, demonstrated the Church's ability to resist and even impact Nazi policies. The Catholic Church, despite condemnation and complicity in past atrocities, remains a cornerstone of moral and ethical resistance in the face of extremism.