Source: Timeline
July 20, 1933 Vatican-Germany Concordat is signed in Rome by Cardinal Pacelli and Vice Chancellor Papen.
Online text of Concordat: in German and Italian.
English summary of Concordat provisions
July 20, 1933 Excerpts of the Vatican-Germany Concordat of 1933:
Selection of new German Bishops by the Vatican (with opportunity for the German Government to object to a selection on political grounds) rather than by local cathedral chapters, or clerical committees.
The Vatican-Germany Concordat applied to the entire Reich the change in the selection procedure for German Bishops which had already been instituted in Bavaria, Prussia and Baden pursuant to the three state-level Concordats. The Pope, rather than local cathedral chapters, would henceforth select new Bishops. The Vatican-Germany Concordat conferred on the German Government a power to object to individual Bishop selections by the Vatican, a power previously conceded to other governments, whether totalitarian (e.g., Mussolini’s Italy, 1929) or republic (e.g., Poland, 1925).
Article 14(2) of the Vatican-Germany Concordat states: “Before the bull is issued for the appointment of Archbishops, Bishops, for a Coadjutor Bishop with right of succession, or for a Prelate with a physical jurisdiction, the name of the appointee will be communicated to the Reich Governor in the corresponding state and it will be ascertained that there are no objections of a general political nature.”
The Supplementary Protocol to Article 14(2) states: “It is understood that when objections of a general political nature exist, they shall be presented within the shortest possible time. If no such declaration has been presented after the passage of twenty days, the Holy See will be justified in considering that no such objections to the candidate exist. Until publication of the appointment, the names of the persons in question will be kept in complete confidence. This provision does not create a governmental veto right.”
Note: This translation and the following Concordat translations are made from the German version of the Concordat and the Italian version. Article 34 of the Concordat states that the German and Italian versions are equally authoritative. We have followed the general rules for treaty interpretation in such cases, which are well described in an article by Enrico Zamuner, “International Treaties Authenticated in Two or More Languages,” LexALP (“When a comparison between the authentic texts reveals a discrepancy of meaning and the divergence of interpretation still persists, the interpreter has to individuate the meaning that best reconciles the texts, having regard to the object and purpose of the treaty. As a result, it is of primary importance to give preference to an interpretation that is compatible with both texts and not an interpretation that, although compatible with one of the texts, is in contradiction with the other. Consequently, a comparison of all authentic versions is necessary in order to find the meaning that reconciles all versions of the treaty.”)
Defining which Catholic associations would be allowed to exist in Nazi Germany. Article 31 of the Concordat was an “agreement to agree” on which of the extensive array of Catholic associations – ranging from youth groups to spiritual and charitable groups in virtually every parish, to nationwide labor unions and professional associations, to Catholic newspapers numbered in the hundreds – would be protected:
Article 31 states: Those Catholic organizations and associations which serve exclusively religious, pure-cultural and charitable purposes, and, as such, are placed under the Church authorities, will be protected in their institutions and in their activities.
Those Catholic organizations which, in addition to religious, cultural and charitable purposes, also serve other purposes, such as social or professional tasks, shall, without prejudice to their eventual incorporation into State organizations, enjoy the protection of Article 31, paragraph 1, to the extent they provide a guarantee to conduct their activity outside all political parties.
The identification of organizations and associations that fall within the provisions of this Article remains to be agreed jointly between the Reich Government and the German episcopate. To the extent that the Reich and the individual states take charge of athletic or other youth organizations, care will be taken that their members be enabled to regularly fulfill their religious obligations on Sundays and Holy Days, and that they not be required to do things that would not be compatible with their religious and moral convictions and obligations.
Loyalty oath to be taken by Bishops at the time of their installation: The oath for Catholic Bishops in Germany required them to state as follows. “Before God and on the Holy Gospels I swear and promise, as befits a Bishop, loyalty to the German Reich and the state of _______. I swear and promise to honor the constitutionally formed government and to cause the clergy of my diocese to honor it. With dutiful concern for the welfare and the interest of the German State, I will endeavor, in the performance of the sacred office entrusted to me, to prevent everything injurious that could threaten it.”
Prohibition of political activity on the part of priests. Article 32 of the Concordat provides: “By reason of the currently existing particular circumstances in Germany, and in consideration of the guarantees created by the provisions of the foregoing Concordat for legal preservation of the rights and freedoms of the Catholic Church in the Reich and its states, the Holy See will issue instructions to exclude clergy and members of religious orders from membership in political parties and activity for such parties.”