Hi there,
the basic problem for the Catholic Church is that, according to its own doctrines, it is sinless. It is theologically incapable of admitting error. We all sin, but only the Catholic Church denies this. It will admit that its followers sin, and appologise on their behalf, but of its leadership, they are sinless. Therefore, the crusades as such cannot be appologised for, they were called for by a pope. Some crusaders may have gone off the rails, but that is all. Likewise, some catholics may have sinned during ww2, but not the Catholic church as such.
Concerning the German churches during the Nazi era, unfortunately, both Catholics and Protestants largely cooperated with the Nazis. They did defend their own rights, but in the narrowest sence. Within this defence, certain casualties were taken. These should not be exaggerated, however. In 1937, a forty year old Catholic priest was charged by the Cologne court with making seditious statements. One of those statements lamented the number of priests who had spoken out against the Nazis. Only 60 of the 25,500 priests in Germany had cases pending against them, he declared.
In Bavaria, where there were 5,750 Catholic clergy, 8 were executed by the Nazis, and 312 suffered some form of imprisonment. Not one bishop in all Germany even went to jail during the Nazi era. Likewise, for the Protestants of Bavaria, where there were about 1,500 clergy, none were executed, and 34 suffered some form of imprisonment. This is hardly indicative of a general church resistance to the regime. Certainly, for the Catholics, the annihilation of the Jews prompted nothing like the mass action, boycotts and protests which characterized the Kulturkampf of the 1870s. After the war, Cardinal Faulhaber (who had only months before described the war as an exemplary model of a just war) initiated a study to show the “powerful and nearly universal resistance of the clergy against Nazi ideology and church policy.” In this way, the “myth of Catholic resistance” was created. Having rejected any guilt, they now decided that, in accordance with the papal radio address, they were victims and heroes. In fact, as seen, resistance was confined to “a few critical individuals and groups ... The Catholic Church largely co-operated with the Nazi regime.” In Austria, out of 8,000 Catholic clergy, 35 were executed. This did not stop the Austrian episcopacy from releasing a statement declaring: “no group had to make greater sacrifice in terms of property and wealth, of freedom and health, of life and blood as Christ’s church.” One consequence of this comforting myth was that church leaders expressed sorrow for their own suffering, and largely neglected the real victims of the Nazi era.
Colin
the basic problem for the Catholic Church is that, according to its own doctrines, it is sinless. It is theologically incapable of admitting error. We all sin, but only the Catholic Church denies this. It will admit that its followers sin, and appologise on their behalf, but of its leadership, they are sinless. Therefore, the crusades as such cannot be appologised for, they were called for by a pope. Some crusaders may have gone off the rails, but that is all. Likewise, some catholics may have sinned during ww2, but not the Catholic church as such.
Concerning the German churches during the Nazi era, unfortunately, both Catholics and Protestants largely cooperated with the Nazis. They did defend their own rights, but in the narrowest sence. Within this defence, certain casualties were taken. These should not be exaggerated, however. In 1937, a forty year old Catholic priest was charged by the Cologne court with making seditious statements. One of those statements lamented the number of priests who had spoken out against the Nazis. Only 60 of the 25,500 priests in Germany had cases pending against them, he declared.
In Bavaria, where there were 5,750 Catholic clergy, 8 were executed by the Nazis, and 312 suffered some form of imprisonment. Not one bishop in all Germany even went to jail during the Nazi era. Likewise, for the Protestants of Bavaria, where there were about 1,500 clergy, none were executed, and 34 suffered some form of imprisonment. This is hardly indicative of a general church resistance to the regime. Certainly, for the Catholics, the annihilation of the Jews prompted nothing like the mass action, boycotts and protests which characterized the Kulturkampf of the 1870s. After the war, Cardinal Faulhaber (who had only months before described the war as an exemplary model of a just war) initiated a study to show the “powerful and nearly universal resistance of the clergy against Nazi ideology and church policy.” In this way, the “myth of Catholic resistance” was created. Having rejected any guilt, they now decided that, in accordance with the papal radio address, they were victims and heroes. In fact, as seen, resistance was confined to “a few critical individuals and groups ... The Catholic Church largely co-operated with the Nazi regime.” In Austria, out of 8,000 Catholic clergy, 35 were executed. This did not stop the Austrian episcopacy from releasing a statement declaring: “no group had to make greater sacrifice in terms of property and wealth, of freedom and health, of life and blood as Christ’s church.” One consequence of this comforting myth was that church leaders expressed sorrow for their own suffering, and largely neglected the real victims of the Nazi era.
Colin
