Anyone that cares to look might check the Simom Wiesenthal Learning Center, they leave no doubt as to the connection to the Holy Roman Empire, as do most scholars.
This does not constitute a link between the Catholic church and nazism, but rather an attempt to link Nazism to a prior period of Germanic, as opposed to Catholic, rule. The Nazi concept of empire was a racist rather than religious notion. I am sure the Wiesenthal Center would disagree, but we can hardly consider them to be an impartial authority on this matter.