What was the role of the Catholic Church in Hitler's War Machine?

Question

Will be interested to hear what comes up with this one!

Answer 1

What the church has done for centuries-Both Catholic and Orthodox-none of them has ever sided with the people. They have always supported the government in question at the time. Read HISTORY. After all we are sheep and they are the Shepard. In Nazi Germany's case they officially remained neutral.Kind of let's wait and see who wins and then commit. A standard policy with the Church. The Orthodox church took a stand on the side of Stalin at the time. Stalin allowed them to open the churches and they in return gave him support by brainwashing th Flock. The parish priest is on the side of the people but never the Church NEVER.

Answer 2

This is a historical controversy, centred around three things:
- What was the reaction to the Nazi ideology in the church?
- What was the actual reaction to the Holocaust and other Nazi policies/horrors?
- What was the reaction after the war?

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Apparently, andin contrast to what some like to think about the Catholic Church, the reaction was not unified. Some Catholics in Germany were part of a (theologically based) resistance against Nazism and viewed it as opposing Catholic theology (see for example the Wikipedia article on this person: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bernhard_Lichtenberg). On the other hand, many other German Catholics collaborated willfully with the regime, and in fact, most top Nazis grew up in Southern Germany and in Austria, which are Catholic areas. [The Nazis themselevs opposed Christianity and strived to re-constitute pre-Christian pagan traditions].

The million dollar question contested by different historians is what was the official reaction of the papacy and the Holy See to the Nazi atrocities. Again, there is no straight answer, but there are many indications that the Pope prefered not to be involved , even in cases where it cost the lives of Jews who have converted to Catholicism (or in Catholics of "Jewish origin" according to the Nazi racial classifications, which would be more appropriate).

After the war, there was a network that helped some top-Nazis escape to Latin America, and this network was connected to the Church, but again - there is no evidence, as far as I know - that this was a Papal decision, but more a local decision of lay Catholics and lower level priests.

Answer 3

Wow, I was just doing some research on a book called The Deputy
by Rolf Hochhuth (Der Stellvetreter in German) which had the basic theme that Pope Pius XII who in 1933 as Cardinal Pacelli signed a concordat between the Vatican and Hitler's vice-chancellor Franz von Papen, knew of Hitler's final solution for the Jews and while he did secretly help some Jews, he made a point fo avoid offending Hitler and his Nazi regime by protesting against the persecution of the Jews. This book and play caused quite a bit of controversy in the 60's. But history confirms that the Catholic Church could have done more but
did not want to as the German war aims of the restablishment of the Holy Roman Empire was a goal that the Church very much supported. The Catholic Church was willing to sacrifice much of its freedom for the sake of material advantage given it in the 1933 Concordat. This explains why so few German bishops and priests protested against the salughter of millions of Jews and other violent persecutions despite the Nazi's frequent violations of its terms. The Church allowed Hitler a baptized Catholic to
remain in good standing inspite of the monstrous nature of the Nazi's crimes against humanity and in spite of Roman Catholic groups' urging his excommunication in 1939. Check this book out.

Answer 4

The role was that there was no role. Pope Pius XII didn't say a word about the atrocities committed by the Nazi regime. For him it came handy that the Jews have been slaughtered by the millions as they were (and most likely still are) hated by the Catholic church. after all, they are a competition religion.
Very much like the JP II and Benny XVI are silent about the atrocities of the Bush regime now, Pius XII silently condoned the killing of the Jews. Hitler actually derived much of his message from the Catholic church and their treatment of the Jews throughout the centuries.

Answer 5

Wrong religion. I invite you to read the writings of Jews who wrote glowingly of the Catholic Church and especialy Pius XII after the end of WWII.

More importantly, I hope you watch the following and spread this around. You are also more likely to get a larger reaction, which is what you are after:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=d51poygEXYU&search=mufti%20hitler



This news report from Bayerischer Rundfunk explains in detail the cooperation between the Nazis and the Muslim Arab leaders during WW2.

It goes on to explain how high ranking heads of the SS fled to the Arab world and carried on their activities under the protection of leaders such as President Nasser and how modern Islam has adopted a Nazi style ideology of hate and conspiracy against the Jews.

Answer 6

What ever was it's role in the spanish inquisition, crussades ...
Finding excuses.
They always find the best excuses for setting the world on fire.
They do it right now by insiting Nuclear holocost gainst Syria, Iran .... the Muslim world.
They are so dumb that they always use the same slogan : The others are not civilized they are the antichrist army and we should exterminate them.
I hope they fail igniting the world this time otherwise ad in case I don't see you :
Good Morning, Good afternoon and Good night "The truman show"

Answer 7

None, except that some catholics, the Church was prosecuted by the nazis who put many priests in concentration camps, had to fight for Germany like you have to fight for your country.
For example of catholic critics of the nazis: the outspoken Bishop Von Galen.
For you confused people who believe the lies of the black legend on Pius XII: He penned the encyclical "Mit brennende Sorge" condemning nazis this was read in all churches in Germany. Also after the war the Israeli leader Golda Meir praised Pius as the one to have done most to save the jewish people from the Shoa.

Answer 8

The role of the Catholic Church in Hitler's War Machine was to monitor its progress in annihilating what it perceives as "children of the devil." Hitler was brought into power by the Catholic vote, because Catholics stupidly believe that the pope is Christ's representative on earth, and they blindly follow all of the HELLacious instructions of the Vatican. Catholic priests and bishops also traded their usual frocks for uniforms as Ustachi killers in Croatia. See http://www.srpska-mreza.com/library/facts/manhattan-vatican.html for more info on that.
The Vatican had a "peace train" supposedly carrying food and medical supplies for injured non-combatants and others, when actually it was carrying Nazi gold from Germany to Swiss banks.
The Vatican Ratlines sheltered, hid, and transported Nazi war criminals to keep them from being arrested and tried. Many were shuffled to Brazil and Argentina.
The Catholic Church is still anti-semitic, always has been. Mel Gibson's Passion of the Christ uses Marian imagery and also uses imagery subliminally to continue the message that the Jews are "children of the devil.' Hence, the scene where Satan is holding a baby-devil as he stands behind the Jews, the scene where two Jewish children's faces contort in demonic fashion as they taunt Judas. The Catholic Church was the REASON for the holocaust. It was just another Catholic crusade, and inquisition, just carried out more insidiously than previous "cleansing campaigns."

The Catholic Church is the whore of Revelation, the seat of the antichrist, the mother of harlots. And God will utterly destroy her so that the smoke of her burning will be seen by the merchants of the sea. She is the woman who rides the beast and she sits on seven hills (Vatican City in Rome).

For more information concerning the Catholic Church's role during Hitler's campaign to destroy the Jews, read "The Vatican Holocaust" by Avro Manhattan and "A Woman Rides the Beast" by Dave Hunt. Also, you can see on film America's most prominent bishop railing against the Jews to a mostly Catholic audience in the documentary film, "America and the Holocaust."

And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues.
Revelation 18:4

Additional information: The Vatican signed concordats with Hitler (Germany), and Mussolini (Italy).

Concordat: an agreement between the pope and a sovereign or government on religious quesions; a pact; a treaty.

Answer 9

They knew what was happening, but let it happen. I'm not sure why because Hitler was murdering Catholics, too. The pope at the time was known to be anti-semetic.

Answer 10

The official policy was non action.They just sat back and did nothing and had no official policy regarding Hitler one way or the other.However, the fact that they didn't oppose Hitler spoke volumes.