THE CATHOLIC KNIGHT: Sit down my readers, grab a cup of tea and I'll tell you a story about your future. Actually it's our future, and the future of our children, and their children. You'll want to pay close attention, because if you're under the age of fifty, you're likely to see these events transpire within your lifetime.
If you've been watching the news lately, you've probably noticed that it seems like the world is going to hell in a hand basket. Well, you're a very perceptive person, because it truly is. You see the bad news is that for the short term, things are only going to get worse, much worse. Oh sure, we'll probably have some brief respites when things settle down a bit, but they'll be followed by calamities even worse. I'm talking about the man-made kind actually, not the natural disasters, as we have always had those. I'm talking about such man-made disasters as economic crisis, civil unrest, wars and famine. You're probably wondering what went wrong? Why is the world so screwed up? What ever happened to the good ol' days?
Well, let me lay this out for you in very simple terms. The good ol' days ended a long time ago, long before any of us were born, and long before anyone alive today can remember. Would it surprise you to learn that our time was prophesied centuries ago with alarming accuracy? Here, let me give you an example...
After the year 1900, toward the middle of the 20th century, the people of that time will become unrecognisable. When the time for the Advent of the Antichrist approaches, peoples minds will grow cloudy from carnal passions, and dishonour and lawlessness will grow stronger. Then the world will become unrecognisable. Peoples appearances will change, and it will be impossible to distinguish men from women due to there shamelessness in dress and style of hair. These people will be cruel and will be like wild animals because of the temptations of the Antichrist. There will be no respect for parents or elders, love will disappear, and Christian pastors, bishops, and priests will become vain men, completely failing to distinguish the right hand way from the left. At that time the morals and traditions of Christians and the Church will change. People will abandon modesty, and dissipation will reign. Falsehood and greed will attain great proportions, and woe to those who pile up treasures. Lust, adultery, homosexuality, secret deeds and murder will rule in society.
I bet that got your attention! A man writing some 1,600 years ago accurately predicted our present age down to the half century. He states that this change in humanity will begin around the middle of the 20th century, and then he goes on to accurately describe the change in vivid detail. Sure enough, during the 1960s (about the middle of the 20th century) the whole Western World underwent the a change that has been called the "sexual revolution," which radically altered our lives, habits, fashions, and appearances. About the same time the crime rate skyrocketed, just as the early medieval prophet foretold so many centuries ago.
You'll notice in St. Nilus' prophecy a reference to Antichrist. Now I should point out here that Nilus did not say the Antichrist would come in the 20th century, nor in the 21st century. He specifically said "when the time for the advent of the Antichrist approaches." In other words, when it is getting close to that time, but not necessarily the actual time itself. That's important to remember, because our Evangelical Christian friends (God love 'em) actually believe the time of the Antichrist is here, and he'll make is presence known any day now. Of course a lot of them believe they're going to be "raptured" as well, in a supernatural event that will snatch them out of this world so they will not have to endure the temptations of Antichrist. Now, that's a pleasant thought, but totally unbiblical. The early Church Fathers, those Christians who lived closest to the Apostolic age, knew nothing of this "rapture" as it is commonly taught, that is allegedly supposed to spare modern day Evangelicals from the same kind of hardship endured by the early Christians under the Roman persecutions. It's no matter though, because in a very short time Evangelicalism will no longer exist. For that matter, neither will any Protestant denomination or sect. All of the pluralism we see in Christianity today will soon be extinct.
Now comes the journey. I hope you're comfortable, because I'm about to reveal something to you that very few Christians today know, but was once common knowledge back in the early days of the Church. It all centers around the time period leading up to the Antichrist, and in order to understand the Antichrist, we must first understand the centuries leading up to it, of which the 20th century marked the first. We are now in the second - the 21st century. What I don't know is how many centuries we have left to go. What I do know is the time is short, and there are not many centuries left, but the one we currently live in will by far be the most interesting, the most terrifying and the most wonderful. Are you sitting down?
And after these shall arise Antichrist and having by the signs and lying wonders of his magical deceit, beguiled the Jews as though he were the expected Christ, he shall afterwards characterize himself by all kinds of excesses of cruelty and lawlessness…and he shall perpetrate such things for 3 years and 6 months
"Antichrist will exceed in malice, perversity, lust, wickedness, impiety, and ruthlessness and barbarity all men that have ever disgraced human nature. Hence St. Paul emphatically calls him `the man of sin the son of perdition, the wicked one, whose birth and coming is through the operation of Satan, in all manner of seduction and iniquity.' (2 Thess., 2). Through his great power, deceit and malice he shall succeed in decoying or forcing to his worship two thirds of mankind; the remaining third part of men will continue true to the faith and worship of Jesus Christ most steadfastly. But in his satanic rage and fury, Antichrist will persecute these brave and devout Christians during three years and a half, and torture them with such an extremity of barbarity, with all the old and newly invented instruments of pain, as to exceed all past persecutors of the Church combined. He will oblige all his followers to bear impressed upon their foreheads or right hands the mark of the Beast and will starve to death all those who refuse to receive it."
This one shall seize the power of the Roman Empire and shall falsely style himself Christ. By the name Christ he shall deceive the Jews who are expecting the anointed and he shall seduce the Gentiles by his magical illusions.
-- St. Cyril of Jerusalem, 386 AD
Now as these writings get closer in proximity to the time of the Apostles, we can safely assume that what we are reading is not so much a mystical prediction of private revelation, as it is a faithful passing on of oral tradition from the Apostles themselves. A lot is said about the Antichrist by the early Church Fathers, and from this we learn a lot about him. We learn that he will deceive the Jews. From other contemporary writings we learn that he will be a Jew himself, born in the Middle East somewhere in present-day Iraq, and will come to power in the area we now call Israel. As a Jew he will deceive the Jewish people into believing he is the Messiah, and two-thirds of the world will follow him. We do not know how long his actual reign in Jerusalem will be, but it is suspected that he will reign for a fairly long time (perhaps decades), but it is the last 3 1/2 years of his reign that is most interesting. This is when he seizes control of the "Roman Empire." It is during this time he unleashes the most ferocious persecution of Christians the world has ever known, rivaling that of all the Roman emperors in ages past, and the Communists and Muslims to today. Let us understand something here. Many evil men have reigned over various territories in the past, and it is likely that many more evil men are to come, but just being "evil" is not what makes one the Antichrist. The word "Antichrist" is a biblical term. It has religious underpinnings and outside of religion it means nothing. The word "Antichrist" is the Greek rendering of a 1st century Jewish concept of the Anti-Messiah! The Anti-Messiah is a false Messiah, and to be sure, the Jews have seen many anti-messiahs in their history. However, this one foretold in Christian Scripture and Tradition is a special case. It is an Anti-Messiah (false Messiah) that is so convincing that he not only dupes almost all the Jews, but two-thirds of the world's population as well. Christian Scripture and Tradition tell us he doesn't act alone, but he is aided by none other than the devil himself. All of this is extremely important to remember, because if we are to properly understand the Antichrist, we must do so strictly in Jewish terms.
Now it is the last portion of St. Cyril's record that is of particular interest to us. He states the "this one" meaning Antichrist "shall seize the power of the Roman Empire." Now that is interesting since the Roman Empire ceased to exist some 1,500 years ago in the West and some 550 years ago in the East. Our Evangelical brethren, once again hot on the trail of a supposed present-day Antichrist, have pointed out the reunification of Europe under the European Union, and assume this must be the return of ancient Rome. Once again that's a quaint idea but in order to truly have an empire you must first have an emperor - a single monarch who's rule is absolute. Nothing like that exists today. St. Cyril tells us the Antichrist "shall seize the power of the Roman Empire," implying that he just takes it, as if it is not rightfully his to begin with. How then? How does a man steal some nonexistent thing, from somebody who clearly does not exist? The answer is simple. The emperor and empire still have yet to come...
The Great Gaulish Monarch, who shall subject all the East, shall come around the end of the world. These things, then, coming to pass, beloved, and the one week being divided into two parts, and the abomination of desolation being manifested then, and the two prophets and forerunners of the Lord having finished their course, and the whole world finally approaching the consummation, what remains but' the coming of our Lord and Saviour from heaven, for whom we have looked in hope? who shall bring the conflagration and just judgment upon all who have refused to believe on Him
"Christ arose from among the Hebrews, and he (Antichrist) will spring from among the Jews. Christ showed His flesh as a Temple, and raised it up on the third day; and he, too, will raise up again the Temple of stone in Jerusalem.
-- St. Hippolytus, 236 AD
You'll notice we're going further back in time now. This writing comes to us from the early third century, while Christians were still being thrown to lions under the Roman persecutions. St. Hippolytus' grandfather would have been old enough to remember the Apostle John. The teachings of the apostles about these things still would have been fresh in Church memory. The context is in reference to the Antichrist, and indeed these early Church fathers did preoccupy themselves with the Antichrist in many of their writings. Once again we learn a few new traits of this man of sin. It is however, the first sentence that is of most interest to us now. "
The Great Gaulish Monarch, who shall subject all the East, shall come around the end of the world." Notice the vague reference to time. He shall come "
around the end of the world." It's not at the end of the world, or even immediately before the end of the world, but "around" that time. So it is sometime in the centuries prior to the end of the world, and likewise the coming of Antichrist. According to St. Nilus' prophecy above about the end times beginning around the later half of the 20th century, that would put the coming of this "Great Gaulish Monarch" sometime in our immediate proximity. In case you're wondering, "Gaul" was what the ancient Romans called a certain portion of Western Europe. Today we call it France. In the centuries to follow, more Christians gave testimony to this tradition presumably coming from the Apostolic era...
A Frankish King will one day rule over the entire Roman Empire."
-- St. Augustine, 5th Century
He shall reign over the entire ancient Roman Empire."
-- Remy, 5th Century
Okay, so we now know that the early Christians believed there would one day come a French king who would rule over the entire Roman Empire, and that this will happen toward the end of the world, or more specifically in the centuries leading up to the time of Antichrist and the end of the world. We currently live in an age of Republics right now. Western monarchies are effectively neutered these days - little more than national figureheads. There is no Roman Empire to speak of, because there is no Roman emperor. Right now Europe is united as a loose confederacy of republics. There is no central figurehead, and there is not likely to be under the constitutional system now set up. So how can this happen? Another 4th century saint gives us a clue...
A time will come when the enemies of Christ will boast: "We have subjected the earth and all its inhabitants, and the Christians cannot escape our hands." Then a Roman Emperor will arise in great fury against them... Drawing his sword, he will fall upon the foes of Christianity and crush them. Then peace will reign on earth, and priests will be relieved of all their anxieties.
In the latter days of the world, Christians will become ungrateful for the great favours they will receive through the coming of the great Monarch, by reason of the long period of peace and prosperity on earth which they will enjoy under his reign. Many man will then begin to doubt if the Christian faith is the only really sanctifying faith and will think perhaps the Jews are right because they are awaiting the Messiah.
--St. Methodius of Olympus, 311 AD
Okay, so now we have a chronology. First a great time of trial for Christians comes. Then the Great French Monarch comes to save the day, putting down the enemies of Christianity. In turn however, because of the great peace he delivers that lasts a very long time, people will start to take it for granted. As a result there will be a great apostasy, eventually leading two-thirds of the world's population away from Christ, and resulting in the rise of Antichrist.
So now we have the big picture. The reason why the Antichrist will eventually be able to steal the power of the Roman Empire is because the Roman Empire is coming back. This time not as a Pagan system, but as the medieval Holy Roman Empire restored! Only after a long period of such rule will the Antichrist come and attempt to steal it away.
As we look around us, we can see that the fall of democratic republicanism in our time is inevitable now. The Socialist-Islamic (IslamoSocialist) alliance in Europe has successfully exploited the weakness of our democratic system, and the problem will only get worse in the years (or decades) ahead. That coupled with the moral decline and economic decline of the western world, signals the end of the American and European republics.
(Zenit.org) - On an official visit to Italy this week, the Libyan chief of state caused a few ripples by stating that Europe should convert to Islam. The general public was perhaps more shocked, however, by his request for a few billion dollars to stop African immigration.
However, a missionary priest did call for taking seriously Muammar al-Qadhafi's statements on religion, saying a European conversion to Islam just might happen if the continent continues denying its Christian roots.
Father Piero Gheddo of the Pontifical Institute for Foreign Missions and founder of the missionary news agency AsiaNews, said that far from being "folklore," al-Qadhafi's summons could become a reality in a few decades....
read full story here
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(
CBN) Friday in Paris. A hidden camera shows streets blocked by huge crowds of Muslim worshippers and enforced by a private security force.
This is all illegal in France: the public worship, the blocked streets, and the private security. But the police have been ordered not to intervene.
It shows that even though some in the French government want to get tough with Muslims and ban the burqa, other parts of the French government continue to give Islam a privileged status.
An ordinary French citizen who has been watching the Islamization of Paris decided that the world needed to see what was happening to his city. He used a hidden camera to start
posting videos on YouTube. His life has been threatened and so he uses the alias of "Maxime Lepante."
The only counter to this IslamoSocialist infiltration is a healthy and robust Christianity - particularly CATHOLIC Christianity - as it is the only form of Christianity that abhors artificial birth control and has successfully repelled Islam in the past (in the crusades!). What these ancient prophecies tell us is another crusade is coming. It will be the last and final crusade - the mother of all crusades - that will deliver a death blow to the whole IslamoSocialist regime in Europe and the IslamoShariah system in the Middle East.
Before this can happen however, all of the Catholic prophecies and the teachings of the most ancient Church Fathers agree there must first be a crisis - a Chastisement of God - that will cause the present system of things to crumble. The Chastisement marks the last epic of human history, starting with a calamity that changes the world, resulting in the longest period of peace the world has ever known. It will be the last reign of Christian kings, with a Great Monarch ruling over a revived Holy Roman Empire, from Iberia to Siberia, that will far surpass everything that has previously existed. This will last for an unspecified amount of time. Catholic prophecies seem to indicate at least a couple centuries is likely. During the latter part of that time period the world will fall back into it's depraved state, and it is at that time the Antichrist will arise, steal the power of the revived Holy Roman Empire for himself and use it in an attempt to destroy the Church. He will nearly succeed before he is killed and sometime after that Jesus Christ will return to raise the dead and judge the nations. We are now living in the time just before the Chastisement.
We don't know much about the Chastisement, but this we do know...
There are many books written on the coming Chastisement and the following Tribulation of Antichrist, but none offer such a well researched, exhaustive and orderly presentation of APPROVED Catholic prophecy than this book by Desmond Birch. If you read anything about End Times eschatology, than this is a book that belongs in your library. There are many other books out there, but in the opinion of The Catholic Knight, this one is the BEST!
Concordat between the Holy See and the German Reich
[with Supplementary Protocol and Secret Supplement]
July 20, 1933
[Ratified 10 September 1933]
[Concordat]
His Holiness Pope Pius XI and the President of the German Reich, moved by a common desire to consolidate and promote the friendly relations existing between the Holy See and the German Reich, wish to permanently regulate the relations between the Catholic Church and the state for the whole territory of the German Reich in a way acceptable to both parties. They have decided to conclude a solemn agreement, which will supplement the Concordats already concluded with individual German states (Länder) [5], and will ensure for the remaining states (Länder) fundamentally uniform treatment of their respective problems.
For this purpose His Holiness Pope Pius XI has appointed as his Plenipotentiary His Eminence the Most Reverend Cardinal Eugenio Pacelli, his Secretary of State and the President of the German Reich has appointed as Plenipotentiary the Vice-Chancellor of the German Reich, Herr Franz von Papen, who, having exchanged their respective mandates and found them to be in good and proper form, have agreed to the following Articles:
Article 1
The German Reich guarantees freedom of profession and public practice of the Catholic religion.
It acknowledges the right of the Catholic Church, within the framework of the laws valid for all, to manage and regulate its own affairs independently, and, within the framework of its own competence, to issue binding laws and ordinances for its members.
Article 2
The concordats concluded with Bavaria (1924), Prussia (1929) and Baden (1932) remain in force, and the rights and privileges of the Catholic Church recognized in these are preserved unchanged within the territories of the states concerned. For the remaining states (Länder), the agreements reached in the present concordat come into force in their entirety. These last are also binding for the three states (Länder) named above, in so far as they affect matters not regulated by the states’ (Länder) concordats or in so far as they supplement the earlier settlements.
In the future concordats with the states (Länder) will be concluded only with the agreement of the government of the Reich.
Article 3
In order to foster good relations between the Holy See and the German Reich, an apostolic nuncio will reside in the capital of the German Reich and an ambassador of the German Reich at the Holy See.
Article 4
The Holy See enjoys full freedom in its relations and correspondence with the bishops, clergy and other members of the Catholic Church in Germany. The same applies to the bishops and other diocesan officials in their dealings with the faithful in all matters belonging to their pastoral office.
Instructions, ordinances, pastoral letters, official diocesan gazettes, and other decrees concerning the spiritual direction of the faithful issued by the Church authorities within the framework of their competence (Art. 1, Sect. 2) may be published without hindrance and brought to the notice of the faithful in the customary form.
Article 5
In the exercise of their clerical activities the clergy enjoy the protection of the state in the same way as state officials. The state will proceed, in accordance with the general provisions of civil law, against any insult to their person or to their clerical capacity, as well as against any interference with the duties of their office and, if necessary, will provide official protection.
Article 6
The clergy and members of religious orders are freed from any obligation to take public office and such obligations as, according to the dictates of Canon Law, are incompatible with the status of a member of the clergy or religious order respectively. This applies particularly to the office of a lay judge, juror, member of a tax committee or of a fiscal tribunal.
Article 7
For the acceptance of employment or appointment as state official, or to any public corporation dependent on the state, clergymen require, the nihil obstat [6] of their diocesan ordinary, as well as of the ordinary of the place where the public corporation is situated. The nihil obstat may be withdrawn at any time for important reasons of ecclesiastical interests.
Article 8
The official income of the clergy is immune from distraint [7] to the same extent as is the official salary of the Reich and state officials.
Article 9
The clergy cannot be required by judicial and other authorities to give information about matters which have been entrusted to them in the course of administering pastoral care, and which therefore fall under the obligation of pastoral secrecy.
Article 10
The wearing of clerical dress or of a religious habit by lay people, or by members of the clergy or religious orders by whom this use is forbidden by a definitive and legally valid directive of the competent ecclesiastical authority and officially communicated to the state authority, is liable to the same penalty by the state as the misuse of the military uniform.
Article 11
The present organisation and boundaries of dioceses of the Catholic Church in the German Reich remain in force. Any creation or rearrangement of a bishopric or ecclesiastical province, or other changes in the boundaries of dioceses that seem advisable in the future, so far as they involve changes within the boundaries of a German state (Land), remain subject to the agreement of the state (Land) governments concerned. Rearrangements and alterations which extend beyond the boundaries of a German state require the agreement of the Reich Government, which shall be left to secure the consent of the appropriate state (Land) government. The same applies to creations or rearrangements of Church provinces involving several German states (Länder). The foregoing conditions do not apply to changes in ecclesiastical boundaries made merely in the interests of local pastoral care.
In the case of any (territorial) re-organisation within the German Reich, the Reich Government will communicate with the Holy See with a view to rearrangement of the organisation and boundaries of dioceses.
Article 12
Without prejudice to the provisions of Article 11, ecclesiastical offices may be freely created and changed, unless state funds are drawn upon. The involvement of the state in the creation and alteration of parishes shall be carried out according to standard procedures that are agreed to by the diocesan bishops, and for which the Reich Government will endeavour to secure the most uniform treatment possible from the state (Länder) governments.
Article 13
Catholic parishes, parish and diocesan societies, episcopal sees, bishoprics and chapters, religious orders and congregations, as well as institutions, foundations and property which are under the administration of Church agencies, shall retain or acquire respectively, legal competence in the civil domain according to the general provisions of civil law. They shall remain corporations under public law to the extent that they have been so far; the others may be granted similar rights within the framework of the laws valid for all.
Article 14
As a matter of principle the Church retains the right to appoint freely to all Church offices and benefices without the involvement of the state or of civil groups, in so far as other provisions have not been made in previous concordats mentioned in Article 2.
Concerning the appointment of bishops’ sees, the regulation made for appointment of the two suffragan [8] bishoprics of Rottenburg and Mainz, as well as for the bishopric of Meissen, is to be duly applied to the metropolitan see of the Upper Rhine Ecclesiastical Province of Freiburg. The same holds for the two first named suffragan bishops with regard to appointments to the cathedral chapter, and for the administration of the right of patronage [9].
Furthermore, there is agreement on the following points:
1. Catholic clerics who hold an ecclesiastical office in Germany or who exercise pastoral or educational functions must:
(a) be German citizens,
(b) have earned a secondary-school graduation certificate which permits study at an institution of higher learning,
(c) have studied philosophy and theology for at least three years at a German state university, a German ecclesiastical college, or a papal college in Rome.
2. The bull nominating archbishops, bishops, coadjutors cum jure successionis [10] or a praelatus nullius [11] will not be issued until the name of the appointee has been submitted to the Reich governor in the relevant state (Land), and until it has been ascertained that there are no objections of a general political nature. In the case of an agreement between Church and state, Paragraph 1, sections (a) (b) and (c) may be disregarded or set aside.
No right of the State to assert a veto is to be based on this Article.
Article 15
Religious orders and congregations are not subject to any special restrictions on the part of the state in relation to their foundation, establishment, number and – subject to Paragraph 2 of this Article – the selection of their members, their pastoral activities in care, education, care of the sick and charitable work, the management of their own affairs and the administration of their property. Superiors of religious orders whose headquarters are within Germany must be German citizens. Superiors of provincials and orders whose headquarters lie outside the territory of the German Reich, have the right to visit those of their establishments that lie within Germany.
The Holy See will take pains to ensure that for conventual establishments within the German Reich the provincial organization is set up so that, as far as possible, German establishments do not fall under the jurisdiction of foreign provincial superiors. Exceptions can be permitted with the agreement of the Reich Government, especially in cases where the small number of houses makes a German province impracticable, or where special grounds exist for the retention of an historic and firmly established provincial organisation.
Article 16
Before bishops take possession of their dioceses they are to take an oath of loyalty either to the Reich governor of the state (Land) concerned or to the President of the Reich respectively, according to the following formula:
“Before God and on the Holy Gospels I swear and promise, as becomes a bishop, loyalty to the German Reich and to the State (Land) of . . . I swear and promise to honour the legally constituted government and to cause the clergy of my diocese to honour it. With dutiful concern for the welfare and the interests of the German state, in the performance of the ecclesiastical office entrusted to me, I will endeavour to prevent everything injurious which might threaten it.”
Article 17
The property rights and other rights to assets of corporations under public law, of the institutions, foundations and associations of the Catholic Church are guaranteed according to requirements of the general law of the land.
No building dedicated to religious services may be destroyed for any reason whatsoever without the previous consent of the proper Church authorities.
Article 18
In the case of the abrogation of state obligations to the Church, whether based on law, agreement or special charter, before working out the principles according to which the abrogation is to be carried out, in a timely manner an amicable agreement is to be effected between the Holy See and the Reich.
Legitimate traditional rights are to be considered as titles in law. An abrogation must bestow upon those entitled to abrogation proper compensation for the loss of the customary state benefits.
Article 19
Catholic theological faculties in state universities are to be maintained. Their relation to Church authorities will be governed by the relevant concordats and by their supplementary protocols with stated regulations, having due regard for the relevant Church decrees. [12] The Reich Government will endeavour to secure for all of these Catholic faculties in Germany uniformity of treatment.
Article 20
Where other agreements do not exist, the Church has the right to establish theological and philosophical colleges for the training of its clergy, which are to be wholly dependent on the Church authorities if no state subsidies are sought.
The establishment, management and administration of theological seminaries and hostels for seminarians is, within the framework of the laws valid for all, the exclusive prerogative of the Church authorities.
Article 21
Catholic religious education in elementary, vocational, secondary schools and institutions of higher learning is a regular school subject, and is to be taught in accordance with the principles of the Catholic Church. In religious education, special emphasis will be given to inculcating a patriotic, civic and social sense of duty in the spirit of the Christian faith and the moral code, just as happens in all other subjects. The curriculum and the selection of textbooks for religious education will be arranged in agreement with the Church authorities. The opportunity will be given to the Church authorities to check, with the agreement of the school authorities, whether the pupils receive religious education in accordance with the teachings and specifications of the Church.
Article 22
In the appointment of Catholic religious instructors, agreement is to be reached between the bishop and the state (Land) government. Teachers who, because of their doctrine or moral behaviour, are declared unfit to further impart religious education, are not permitted to be employed as religion teachers so long as this obstacle remains.
Article 23
The retention of Catholic denomination schools and the establishment of new ones is guaranteed. In all parishes where parents or guardians request it, Catholic elementary schools will be established, wherever the number of pupils, with due regard for the local conditions of school organization, appears to be sufficient for a school administered in accordance with the standards prescribed by the state.
Article 24
In all Catholic elementary schools only such teachers are to be employed as are members of the Catholic Church, and who guarantee to fulfil the special requirements of a Catholic school.
Within the framework of the general professional training of teachers, facilities will be created which will provide for the training of Catholic teachers, in accordance with the special requirements of Catholic denominational schools.
Article 25
Religious orders and congregations are entitled to establish and conduct private schools, within the framework of the general laws and ordinances. These private schools award the same qualifications as state schools, insofar as they adhere to the regulations governing curriculum prescribed for the latter.
Members of religious orders or congregations seeking admission to teacher training and employment in elementary, secondary or post-secondary schools are to meet the general requirements applicable to all
Article 26
Until a later comprehensive regulation of the marriage laws, it is understood that, apart from cases of critical illness of an engaged person which would not permit delay, and in cases of great moral emergency, whose presence must be confirmed by the proper episcopal authority, the Church marriage blessing should precede the civil ceremony. In such cases the priest is obliged to immediately notify the Registrar’s office.
Article 27
For the German army pastoral care outside the realm of ordinary jurisdiction is conceded for its Catholic officers, officials and men, as well as for their families.
The administration of such pastoral care for the army is the duty of the army bishop. His Church appointment is to be made by the Holy See after contact has been made with the Reich Government in order, with its agreement, to select a suitable person.
The Church appointment of military chaplains and other military clergy will be made by the army bishop after prior consultation with the appropriate authorities of the Reich. He may appoint only such chaplains as receive permission from their diocesan bishop to undertake military pastoral work, together with a certificate of suitability. Military chaplains have the rights of parish priests with regard to the troops and other army personnel assigned to them.
Detailed regulations for the organisation of pastoral work by chaplains will be supplied by an Apostolic Brief. Regulations for the legal aspects in terms of officials will be drawn up by the Reich Government.
Article 28
In hospitals, prisons, and other public institutions the Church is permitted to make pastoral visits and conduct services of worship, subject to the general rules of the institutions concerned. If regular pastoral care is provided for such institutions, and if pastors must be appointed as state or other public officials, such appointments will be made with the agreement of Church authorities.
Article 29
Catholic members of a non-German ethnic minority living within the German Reich, as regards their mother tongue in Church services [sermons], religious education and Church societies, will be accorded no less favourable treatment than that accorded by law and in practice to members of German origin and speech living within the boundaries of the corresponding foreign states.
Article 30
On Sundays and official holy days, a prayer conforming to the liturgy will be will be offered at the end of the principal Mass in parish, auxiliary and conventual churches of the German Reich, for the welfare of the German Reich and (German) people.
Article 31
Those Catholic organisations and societies which have exclusively charitable, cultural or religious purposes, and, as such, are placed under the Church authorities, will be protected in terms of their institutions and activities.
Those Catholic organisations which, in addition to their religious, cultural and charitable purposes, have others, such as social or professional tasks – even though they may be brought into national organizations – are to enjoy the protection of Article 31, Paragraph 1, provided they guarantee to conduct their activities outside all political parties.
It is reserved to the Reich Government and the German episcopate, in a joint agreement, to determine which organisations and associations come within the scope of this Article. In so far as the Reich and the states (Länder) take charge of sport and other youth organisations, care will be taken that it shall be possible for the members regularly to attend church on Sundays and feast days, and that they shall not be induced to do anything inconsistent with their religious and moral convictions and obligations.
Article 32
Due to the special situation existing in Germany, and in view of the safeguards created by the clauses of this concordat of legislation preserving the rights and privileges of the Catholic Church in the Reich and its states (Länder), the Holy See will enact regulations to exclude the clergy and members of religious orders from membership in political parties and from working on their behalf.
Article 33
All matters relating to clerical personnel or Church affairs, which have not been treated of in the foregoing Articles, will be regulated for the ecclesiastical sphere according to current Canon Law.
Should differences of opinion arise regarding the interpretation or execution of any of the Articles of this Concordat, the Holy See and the German Reich will reach a friendly solution by mutual agreement.
Article 34
This Concordat, whose German and Italian texts shall have equal binding force, shall be ratified, and the instruments of ratification shall be exchanged, as soon as possible. It will be in force from the day of such exchange.
In witness hereof, the plenipotentiaries have signed this Concordat. Signed in two original copies, in the Vatican City, July 20th, 1933.
(Signed) Eugenio, Cardinal Pacelli
(Signed) Franz von Papen
Supplementary Protocol
At the signing of the concordat concluded today between the Holy See and the German Reich, the properly authorised undersigned have submitted the following agreed-upon explanations which form an integral part of the concordat itself.
Re Article 3
The Apostolic Nuncio to the German Reich, in accordance with the exchange of notes between the apostolic nunciature in Berlin and the Reich Foreign Office on the 11th and the 27th of March 1930, shall be the doyen of the diplomatic corps accredited there.
Re Article 13
It is understood that the Church retains the right to levy Church taxes.
Re Article 14, Par. 2, No. 2
It is understood that when objections of a general political nature exist, they shall be presented within the shortest possible time. If after twenty days such a declaration has not been made, the Holy See will be justified in assuming that no objections exist to the candidate. The names of those being considered will be kept confidential until the announcement of the appointment.
Re Article 17
In so far as public buildings or properties are devoted to ecclesiastical purposes, these are to be retained as before, subject to existing agreements.
Re Article 19, Sentence 2
This clause is based, at the time of signing this concordat, especially on the Apostolic Constitution, Deus Scientiarum Dominus of May 24th, 1931, [12] and the Instruction of July 7th, 1932.
Re Article 20
Hostels for seminarians which are administered by the Church at institutes of higher learning and academic secondary schools/junior colleges (Gymnasien) will be recognized for tax purposes as essentially Church institutions in the proper sense of the word, and as part of the diocesan organisation.
Re Article 24
In so far as private institutions are able to meet the requirements of the new educational code for with teacher training, all existing establishments of religious orders and congregations will be given due consideration in the accordance of recognition.
Re Article 26
A severe moral emergency is taken to exist when there are insuperable difficulties, or ones disproportionately costly to overcome, in obtaining the necessary marriage documents in time.
Re Article 27, Par. 1
Catholic officers, officials and personnel, as well as their families, do not belong to local parishes, and do not support them.
Re Article 27, Par. 4
The publication of the Apostolic Brief will take place after consultation with the Reich Government.
Re Article 28
In urgent cases entry of the clergy is guaranteed at all times.
Re Article 29
Since the Reich Government has agreed to make an accommodation regarding non-German minorities, the Holy See declares – in accordance with the principles it has constantly maintained regarding the right to employ the vernacular in Church services [sermons], religious education and the conduct of Church societies – that it will consider admitting a similar clause to protect the rights of German minorities when establishing concordats with other countries.
Re Article 31, Par. 4
The principles laid down in Article 31, Sect. 4 [sic] hold good also for the Labour Service.
Re Article 32
It is understood that similar regulations regarding activity in party politics will be introduced by the Reich for members of non-Catholic denominations. The conduct, which has been made obligatory for the clergy and members of religious orders in Germany through the implementation of Article 32, does not involve any kind of limitation of the prescribed preaching and explanation of the dogmatic and moral teachings and principles of the Church.
(Signed) Eugenio, Cardinal Pacelli
(Signed) Franz von Papen
At the Vatican City, July 20th, 1933.
Secret Supplement
In case of a change in the present German armed forces in the sense of the introduction of universal conscription, the induction of priests and other members of the regular clergy and the orders into military service will, with the understanding of the Holy See, be arranged within the framework of approximately the following guiding ideas:
a) Students of philosophy and theology at Church institutions who are preparing themselves for the priesthood are to be freed from military service and the preparatory drills for it, except in the case of a general mobilisation.
b) In the case of a general mobilization clerics who are employed in the diocese administration or the military chaplaincy are freed from reporting for duty. This applies to ordinaries, members of the ordinariate, provosts of seminaries and Church residences for seminarians, professors at the seminaries, parish priests, curates, rectors, coadjucators and the clerics who provide a church with worship services on a continuing basis.
c) The remaining clerics, insofar as they are considered suitable, are to join the armed forces of the state in order to devote themselves to pastoral care for the troops under the Church jurisdiction of the military bishops, if they are not inducted into the medical unit.
d) The remaining clergy in sacris or members of orders, who are not yet priests are to be assigned to the medical unit. The same shall apply when possible to the candidates for the priesthood mentioned in a) who have not yet taken their final vows.
