Controversial concordats : the Vatican's relations with Napoleon, Mussolini, and Hitler

257 Pages·1999·1.41 MB·English

by  Emperor of the French Napoleon I

Controversial Concordats

Controversial Concordats
The Vatican’s Relations with Napoleon,
Mussolini, and Hitler
edited by
frank j. coppa
w
The Catholic University of America Press
Washington, D.C.
Copyright ©
1999
The Catholic University of America Press
All rights reserved
Printed in the United States of America
The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements
of American National Standards for Information Science—
Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, . .
ansi z3948-1984
∞
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Controversial concordats : the Vatican’s relations with Napoleon,
Mussolini, and Hitler / edited by Frank J. Coppa.
p. cm.
Expanded versions of papers presented at the Twenty-seventh
Annual Meeting of the Duquesne University Forum, held in Oct.
, in Pittsburgh.
1993
Includes bibliographical references and index.
. Concordats—History—Congresses. . Catholic Church.
1 2
Treaties, etc. France, July —Congresses. . Catholic Church.
1801 15 3
Treaties, etc. Italy, Feb. —Congresses . Catholic Church.
1929 11 4
Treaties, etc. Germany, July —Congresses.
1933 20
. Catholic Church—Foreign relations—France—History— th
5 19
century—Congresses. . Catholic Church and fascism—
6
congresses. . Coppa, Frank J. Catholic Church. Treaties, etc.
i ii.
France, July . . Catholic Church. Treaties, etc. Italy,
1801 15 iii 1929
Feb. . Catholic Church. Treaties, etc. Germany, July .
11 iv 1933 20
. Duquesne History Forum ( th : : Pittsburgh, Pa.)
v 27 1993
.C
bx1791 65 1998
. ' —dc
26187 21
98-23276
- (alk. paper).— (cl : alk.
isbn0-8132-0920 x isbn0-8132-0908-0
paper)
Contents
w
Preface vii
Introduction
1
john k. zeender
Napoleon, the Concordat of ,
1801
and Its Consequences
34
william roberts
Mussolini and the Concordat of
1929 81
frank j. coppa
The Reich Concordat of
1933
The Church Struggle Against Nazi
Germany
120
joseph a. biesinger
Three Controversial Concordats
A Commentary
182
stewart a. stehlin
Appendix
191
Texts of the Concordats
Bibliography
215
Index
245

Preface
w
The origin of this short volume was a panel the authors presented for
the twenty-seventh annual meeting of the Duquesne University Forum
in Pittsburgh, in October . Entitled “Controversial Concordats:
1993
The Vatican and the Dictators,” the panel attracted one of the largest
audiences of the conference, and the papers were very well received.
Indeed, the audience continued to pose questions and make comments
long after the close of the session, until we had to evacuate the hall for
the next scheduled presentation. The feedback we received afterward,
and the numerous requests for papers that followed, encouraged us to
present our papers in book form.
The three essays and the commentary included in the present vol-
ume represent expanded versions of the original papers, which we sub-
sequently modified for presentation before such forums as the Ameri-
can Catholic Historical Association and St. John’s University Vatican
Symposium. As revised they examine the factors that led to the concor-
dats, the agreements themselves, and finally the long-range conse-
quences. In all, five individuals have contributed to this collaborative
project: John K. Zeender, Professor Emeritus of The Catholic Univer-
sity of America, provides an Introduction that places the three concor-
dats in historical perspective; William Roberts of Fairleigh Dickinson
University writes on Napoleon and the Concordat of ; Frank J.
1801
Coppa of St. John’s University focuses on Mussolini and the Concordat
of , while Joseph Biesinger of Eastern Kentucky University, dis-
1929
cusses Hitler and the Concordat of . A Commentary and Conclu-
1933
sion by Stewart Stehlin of New York University rounds out the presen-
tation. We have included a bibliography, divided into three sections,
vii
viii
preface
which examines the origins, negotiation, and impact of each concordat.
At the suggestion of the editor of The Catholic University of America
Press we have added English translations of the three agreements,
which are not collected in any other single volume.
Frank J. Coppa
Introduction
The Catholic University of America
john k. zeender,
w
The enormous power of the state over the church [after the Protes-
tant Reformation] of the sixteenth century was suddenly there in
reality. It is the greatest step toward omnipotence which the state
has taken in past times. Then there followed on the Catholic side
Louis XIV. The subsequent completion of state omnipotence through
the theories of the Revolution could not have taken place so easily
without this preceding Caesaro-papalism.1
—Jacob Burckhardt,
1860
Your Majesty lays claim to be Emperor of Rome. To this we answer
with Papal frankness that the Supreme Head of the Church can
boast, as no other ruler for centuries has been able to do, that he has
never now or in the past recognized in his States the existence of
another power than his own, and that no Emperor possesses the
smallest jurisdiction over Rome.2
—Pope Pius VII to Napoleon, March
1806
. Jacob Burckhardt, Judgments on History and Historians, trans. Harry Zahn. (Boston,
1
), .
1952 111
. F.M. Kircheisen, Napoleon, trans. Henry St. Lawrence (New York, ),
2 1932 416–
.
417
1