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To: polemikos
RE: The Concordat Eugenio Pacelli publicly and privately warned of the dangers of Nazism both before and after he became pope. He denounced the deportations and persecution of Europe’s Jews and was almost universally recognized, including by the Nazis themselves, as an unrelenting opponent of the National Socialist regime. Throughout the 1930s, Pacelli was widely lampooned in the Nazi press as Pius XI’s "Jew-loving" cardinal. It is obvius that Pius XII, far from being "silent," was a persistent critic of Hitler and the Nazi regime.

None of this answers the specific chages brought in the references I gave you. The ferocity of the nazi reaction is not a measure of the specificity or tellingness of PIUS's remonstrances, which were, as changed, markedly non-specific as to measured catholic response, as compared to what he might have done or said. If you think otherwise, than kindly post your reference to PIUS XII's specific instructions to German catholic prelates, say, to send their birth and marriage records to Timbuctoo, or the nearest fireplace, instead of the SS. Said which, of course, would have been a violation of the Concordat's terms that the catholic germans stay out of politics.

But the Concordat was in fact a largely pragmatic and morally-defensible diplomatic measure to protect Catholics within Germany and to ensure the continuity and freedom of the German Catholic Church.

By taking Nazi money in return for an explicit promise to abstain from political activities in Germany.

From the vantage point of German Jews, it was morally defensible as well, since it was signed in July 1933, well before Hitler had begun to enact any of his anti-Semitic legislation or decrees. The widely recognized start of the Holocaust, Kristallnacht, didn't occur until 5 years later in November 1938.

March 22, 1933 - Nazis open Dachau concentration camp near Munich, to be followed by Buchenwald near Weimar in central Germany, Sachsenhausen near Berlin in northern Germany, and Ravensbrück for women.

March 24, 1933 - German Parliament passes Enabling Act giving Hitler dictatorial powers. 

See also - The Rise of Hitler - from Unknown to Dictator of Germany

April 1, 1933 - Nazis stage boycott of Jewish shops and businesses.

April 11, 1933 - Nazis issue a decree defining a non-Aryan as "anyone descended from non-Aryan, especially Jewish, parents or grandparents. One parent or grandparent classifies the descendant as non-Aryan...especially if one parent or grandparent was of the Jewish faith."

April 26, 1933 - The Gestapo is born, created by Hermann Göring in the German state of Prussia.

May 10, 1933 - Burning of books in Berlin and throughout Germany.

July 14, 1933 - Nazi Party is declared the only legal party in Germany; Also, Nazis pass Law to strip Jewish immigrants from Poland of their German citizenship.

In July - Nazis pass law allowing for forced sterilization of those found by a Hereditary Health Court to have genetic defects.

In Sept - Nazis establish Reich Chamber of Culture, then exclude Jews from the Arts.

Sept 29, 1933 - Nazis prohibit Jews from owning land.

Oct 4, 1933 - Jews are prohibited from being newspaper editors.

Nov 24, 1933 - Nazis pass a Law against Habitual and Dangerous Criminals, which allows beggars, the homeless, alcoholics and the unemployed to be sent to concentration camps.



1934 

Jan 24, 1934 - Jews are banned from the German Labor Front.

May 17, 1934 - Jews not allowed national health insurance.

June 30, 1934 - The Night of Long Knives occurs as Hitler, Göring and Himmler conduct a purge of the SA (storm trooper) leadership.

July 20, 1934 - The SS (Schutzstaffel) is made an independent organization from the SA. 

July 22, 1934 - Jews are prohibited from getting legal qualifications.

Numerous respected historians — including the Germans Heinz Hurten, Ludwig Volk, and Konrad Repgen, and the American Stewart Stehlin — have marshaled considerable historical evidence in defense of the Concordat and of Pacelli’s role in negotiating it. Unfortunately, their work has gone largely uncited and undiscussed by most of the Pope’s most vociferous critics.

Than, by all means, please discuss them. How did an explicit agreement for the church to shut up about the jews help the jews?

The Concordat issue doesn't support the claims of anti-Catholics. Any others?

I'll repeat myself one more time. The Concordat was, amongst other things, an agreement for the catholic church to receive money from nazi's and shut up about political questions. Do you or Carroll, or anyone else think this somehow might have encouraged the Catholic party in germany to continue in existence? The centrists might very well have been feeble by the time of the Concordat, but if you believe that the forbidding catholic political action in germany by agreement is some sort of invigorating spur to the centrist catholic party, I'd like to hear your reasoning.

The Concordat issue doesn't support the claims of anti-Catholics.

In the eyes of catholic apologists.

348 posted on 11/10/2003 1:24:29 PM PST by donh
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To: donh
Very funny. You reveal yourself yet again through your arguments.

To claim that somebody could have done more is a logical fallacy. That Pius XII achieved more than anyone else is sufficient proof of his actions.

Your long string of dates and events proves nothing in themselves. For example, for the opening of Dachau to be relevant, it would have to be shown that:
1 - it was a widely known event
2 - its ultimate purpose was widely known
3 - Pius XII knew this purpose
4 - And still, Pacelli signed the Concordant knowing that purpose
5 - Rome knew the Concordat forced them to acquiese to that purpose.
You can't, so that the event, while ultimately horrible, is irrelevant. Same for all the others.

Nevertheless, Rome, restricted to only its words and moral actions, still must try and protect the religious freedom of Catholics in Germany.

The Concordat was ... an agreement for the catholic church to receive money from nazi's and shut up about political questions.

Sorry. Can you point out where the money exchange occurred?

That the CC was precluded from political activities is important why? Similar restrictions exist in the United States. The Holy See was also explicitly forbidding its clergy from being Nazis.

Do you or Carroll, or anyone else think this somehow might have encouraged the Catholic party in germany to continue in existence?

Moot point. The Catholic Centrists didn't exist.
356 posted on 11/10/2003 2:29:51 PM PST by polemikos (Ecce Agnus Dei)
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