Pacelli transmits to Gasparri the German Bishops’ Aug. 24, 1919 memorandum critiquing some of the church-state provisions of the Weimar Constitution - Nov. 16, 1919
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Nov. 16, 1919 Pacelli transmits to Gasparri the German Bishops’ Aug. 24, 1919 memorandum critiquing some of the church-state provisions of the Weimar Constitution.
Pacelli’s cover letter in translation
Nov. 16, 1919 Pacelli to Gasparri:
Re: Statement of the Bishops of Germany about the new Reich Constitution
Most Reverend Eminence,
I am carrying out my duty to transmit here-enclosed to Your Most Reverend Eminence the original German text of the statement of the Most Reverend Bishops of Germany, who participated in the Fulda Conference, about the new Reich Constitution.
The [Italian] translation of this important document was already included with the address to the Holy Father sent this October 27th in the name of the aforesaid Bishops by the Archdiocesan Ordinariate of Cologne concerning the question of the oath of that Constitution, and transmitted by me, as is customary, by means of courier.
In concluding, I humbly bow to kiss the Sacred Purple ...
Source: Pacelli-Edition.de, Dokt. No. 1017
Enclosed German Bishops’ Aug. 24, 1919 memorandum to the German Government about the Weimar Constitution:
“Memorandum of the Fulda Bishops Conference to the Reich Government”
Exalted Reich Government!
The most devoted undersigned Archbishops and Bishops of Germany consider themselves obligated by conscience to take a position on the Constitution of the German Reich of August 11, 1919 by the following statement.
The Catholic Church is an institution that rests upon its divine institution by Jesus Christ and its rights, as such were conferred upon her by her divine founder and flow from her divine foundation, cannot be subjected to worldly legislative bounds and limitations. We gladly acknowledge that the new Reich Constitution in certain fields brings with it greater freedom for the activity of the Catholic Church for the good of our hard-pressed people. On the other hand, some provisions are nevertheless to be found, to our painful regret, which mean an intrusion into the inalienable rights of the Church. Among such provisions are:
Art. 10, No. 1, where the Reich imputes to itself the authority to set up principles, by way of legislation, for the rights and duties of the Church;
Art. 137, where with the passage, “Every religious society orders and administers its affairs independently, within the limitations of generally applicable law,” confers upon the State the right to intrude on occasion into the affairs of the Church, even in the most private and essential matters.
Art. 138, where the Reich is declared competent to set up unilaterally, without involvement of the Church, governing principles for the event of possible dissolution of state subsidies to the Church that are grounded in law, treaty or particular title of right.
Art. 143-149, which contain various provisions about instruction and education of youth, which on the one hand are not compatible with the rights of the Church (compare the relevant canons of the Code of Canon Law) and those responsible for child-rearing, in particular the parents, and which on the other hand confer upon the State far too extensive powers, among others an unrestricted right of oversight of the Church’s religious instruction in the school, not only of the external ordering of it in the curriculum and teaching plan.
Against these and all the provisions of the new Reich Constitution that are injurious to the rights of the Church, we submit our solemn protest on the strength of our office. In doing this we gratefully acknowledge what has been done by members of the National Assembly, in defense of Church principles, for the improvement and completion of the original outline of the Constitution.
As to what concerns the oath to be administered under the Constitution, Catholics will obviously not be able to be obligated to anything that contradicts a divine or Church law and thereby violates their conscience. That corresponds to the freedom of conscience that is solemnly guaranteed to all inhabitants of the German Reich in Art. 135.
Proceeding from the Christian principle that State and Church are two powers willed by God, each independent in its own field and thus having equal rights, we might give expression to our conviction that a peaceful agreement between the responsible leading posts in State and Church concerning the various articles of the new Constitution of the German Reich that we had to protest might be allowed to come to pass.
Source: E. and W. Huber, Staat und Kirche im 19. und 20. Jahrhundert (Berlin: Duncker & Humblot, 1988), vol. IV, pp. 133-135