That short article about the pro-Nazi Austrian Bishop being forced to retire is interesting, in that the Church was still able to resist within the Reich even this late in the game. I am a little confused by referring to him as Monsignor, but giving him the title ‘Prince Bishop’, which I don’t think I have heard before, unless the Prince part referred to a secular noble title.
The feeling I get reading this stuff is pity for the millions being rushed into unutterable horror.
Before the unification of Germany, certain areas were controlled by the Bishop as secular as well as religious leader. Thus the Prince Bishop. And the religious office was not enough to provide protection against neighboring Dukes. The Bishop of Koeln was captured and held by a neighboring ruler, for example.
For an overview of how it worked, here’s an article from Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electorate_of_Cologne
I’d assume it worked the same in Austria.
Of course, by the 1930s, the civil titles were largely empty.