Pacelli reports to Gasparri that the terms of the Vatican-Bavaria Concordat have been “quasi-definitively” agreed, and that he has received assurances that the Reich Government will not object; but Chancellor Marx has said it is impossible to fulfill Pacelli's repeated requests for an immediate Concordat between the Vatican and the German Reich - Dec. 7, 1923
Source: Timeline
Dec. 7, 1923 Pacelli reports to Gasparri that the terms of the Vatican-Bavaria Concordat have been “quasi-definitively” agreed, and that he has received assurances that the Reich Government will not object; but Chancellor Marx has said it is impossible to fulfill Pacelli's repeated requests for an immediate Concordat between the Vatican and the German Reich.
Italian original at www.Pacelli-Edition.de and English translation
Dec. 7, 1923 Pacelli to Gasparri:
Most Reverend Eminence,
During my recent sojourn in Berlin, I had repeated occasions to engage in conversations with the new Chancellor of the Reich, Mr. Marx. He is undoubtedly an excellent and meritorious Catholic with truly edifying piety; however, I had to draw the conclusion that it would be an illusion to expect of him, for now at least, any positive action in favor of the Church’s interests. Many times I asked him if it would not be opportune to take advantage of the current moment to negotiate rapidly a Concordat between the Holy See and the Reich, taking as a foundation the already quasi-definitive schema that will soon be concluded with Bavaria, and I showed him how (prescinding from all other considerations), since the aforesaid Concordat would constitute an affirmation of the unity of the Reich, the German Government would have a most salient political interest in stipulating to the same, especially with regard to the population of the Rhineland; but Mr. Marx kept responding in an uncertain an evasive manner, and finally yesterday, upon my renewed request, he declared more clearly to me that it is impossible, adducing as a reason that the current Reichstag is already close to its end. In that regard, nonetheless, the good but timid Chancellor seems not to be taking sufficiently into account that the future Parliament – in which, at least as is commonly predicted, there will be greater numbers of extreme elements of the right and the left, sad to say Protestant nationalists and communists – will probably be even less favorable than the present one to the acceptance of a Concordat advantageous to the Church. – Not even for the school question will Mr. Marx, whom Osservatore Romano itself has called “the apostle of the confessional school,” dare, so far as it appears, to undertake anything. Certainly he is faced with formidable difficulties of domestic and foreign policy; it needs to be recognized, however, that the current Center Party and its leaders are for the most part far different from the great founders of the Party, thanks to whom the courageous struggle succeeded in victoriously coming out on top, and in breaking the resistance of the Iron Chancellor. – I spoke to Mr. Marx, moreover, about the project of the Concordat for Bavaria, which, as is well known to Your Most Reverend Eminence, must be submitted to the Government in Berlin, so it can examine it and confirm that it contains nothing in violation of the German Constitution, and he expressed the firm expectation that the current Reich Cabinet will not advance any difficulties in this regard. I am certain that the current Chancellor will not create, on his part, hindrances or objections of any kind; nonetheless his response here has also been more hesitant and less clear than that of his predecessor, Mr. Stresemann, now the Foreign Minister, who assured me in this matter without the least uncertainty that the examination in question would have been merely a formality.
This was my duty to report to Your Eminence, while humbly bowing to kiss the Sacred Purple. . . etc.
Source: www.Pacelli-Edition.de, Document No. 47.