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Formal
diplomatic relations Diplomacy comprises spoken or written communication by representatives of states (such as leaders and diplomats) intended to influence events in the international system.Ronald Peter Barston, ''Modern diplomacy'', Pearson Education, 2006, p. 1 ...
between the
Holy See The Holy See ( lat, Sancta Sedes, ; it, Santa Sede ), also called the See of Rome, Petrine See or Apostolic See, is the jurisdiction of the Pope in his role as the bishop of Rome. It includes the apostolic episcopal see of the Diocese of R ...
and the current
Federal Republic of Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated between ...
date to the 1951 and the end of the Allied occupation. Historically the Vatican has carried out
foreign relations A state's foreign policy or external policy (as opposed to internal or domestic policy) is its objectives and activities in relation to its interactions with other states, unions, and other political entities, whether bilaterally or through m ...
through nuncios, beginning with the
Apostolic Nuncio to Cologne The Apostolic Nunciature to Cologne (also it, Nunziatura di Germania inferiore, i.e. ''Nunciature of Lower Germany'') was an ecclesiastical office of the Roman Catholic Church established in 1584. The nuncios were accredited to the Archbishop-El ...
and the
Apostolic Nuncio to Austria The Apostolic Nuncio to Austria is an ecclesiastical office of the Roman Catholic Church in Austria. It is a diplomatic post of the Holy See, whose representative is called the Apostolic Nuncio with the rank of an ambassador. It originated as t ...
. Following the dissolution of the
Holy Roman Empire The Holy Roman Empire was a political entity in Western, Central, and Southern Europe that developed during the Early Middle Ages and continued until its dissolution in 1806 during the Napoleonic Wars. From the accession of Otto I in 962 ...
and the
Congress of Vienna The Congress of Vienna (, ) of 1814–1815 was a series of international diplomatic meetings to discuss and agree upon a possible new layout of the European political and constitutional order after the downfall of the French Emperor Napoleon B ...
, an
Apostolic Nuncio to Bavaria Apostolic may refer to: The Apostles An Apostle meaning one sent on a mission: *The Twelve Apostles of Jesus, or something related to them, such as the Church of the Holy Apostles *Apostolic succession, the doctrine connecting the Christian Churc ...
replaced that of Cologne and that mission remained in
Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the third-largest city in Germany, after Berlin and Ha ...
through several governments. From 1920 the Bavarian mission existed alongside the
Apostolic Nuncio to Germany The Apostolic Nunciature to Germany is an ecclesiastical office of the Roman Catholic Church in Germany. It is a diplomatic post of the Holy See, whose representative is called the Apostolic Nuncio to Germany with the rank of an ambassador. Th ...
in Berlin, with which it was merged in 1934.


Current relations

Former Pope
Benedict XVI Pope Benedict XVI ( la, Benedictus XVI; it, Benedetto XVI; german: link=no, Benedikt XVI.; born Joseph Aloisius Ratzinger, , on 16 April 1927) is a retired prelate of the Catholic church who served as the head of the Church and the soverei ...
(Joseph Ratzinger) was a German (from
Bavaria Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total lan ...
). In 2009, German Chancellor
Angela Merkel Angela Dorothea Merkel (; ; born 17 July 1954) is a German former politician and scientist who served as Chancellor of Germany from 2005 to 2021. A member of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), she previously served as Leader of the Opp ...
, in her nine-page address at the Bavarian Catholic Academy's conference on "Political Action based on Christian Responsibility," noted that Benedict XVI's new encyclical ''
Caritas in Veritate ''Caritas in veritate'' (English: "Charity in truth") is the third and last encyclical of Pope Benedict XVI, and his first social encyclical. It was signed on 29 June 2009 and was published on 7 July 2009. It was initially published in Italian ...
'' points to the way forward in the
Great Recession The Great Recession was a period of marked general decline, i.e. a recession, observed in national economies globally that occurred from late 2007 into 2009. The scale and timing of the recession varied from country to country (see map). At ...
. She was particularly impressed by the passage that read: "The primary capital to be safeguarded and valued is man, the human person in his or her integrity."


Historical relations


Middle Ages

As soon as 496, Frankish King Clovis I was baptized together with many members of his household. In contrast to the eastern German tribes, who became Arian Christians, he became a Catholic. Following the example of their king, many Franks were baptized too, but their Catholicism was mixed with pagan rites. The
investiture controversy The Investiture Controversy, also called Investiture Contest ( German: ''Investiturstreit''; ), was a conflict between the Church and the state in medieval Europe over the ability to choose and install bishops ( investiture) and abbots of mona ...
was the most significant conflict between Church and state in medieval Europe. In the 11th and 12th centuries, a series of popes challenged the authority of European monarchies over control of appointments, or investitures, of church officials such as bishops and abbots.


Early modern history

On September 25, 1555, Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor and the forces of the
Schmalkaldic League The Schmalkaldic League (; ; or ) was a military alliance of Lutheran princes within the Holy Roman Empire during the mid-16th century. Although created for religious motives soon after the start of the Reformation, its members later came to ...
signed the Peace of Augsburg to officially end the religious wars between the Catholics and the Protestants. This treaty legalized the partitioning of the
Holy Roman Empire The Holy Roman Empire was a political entity in Western, Central, and Southern Europe that developed during the Early Middle Ages and continued until its dissolution in 1806 during the Napoleonic Wars. From the accession of Otto I in 962 ...
into Catholic and Protestant territories. Under the treaty, the religion of the ruler (either
Lutheranism Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Catholic Church launched th ...
or
Catholicism The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
) determined the religion of his subjects. This policy is widely referred to by the Latin phrase, ''
cuius regio, eius religio () is a Latin phrase which literally means "whose realm, their religion" – meaning that the religion of the ruler was to dictate the religion of those ruled. This legal principle marked a major development in the collective (if not individua ...
'' ("whose reign, his religion", or "in the prince's land, the prince's religion"). Families were given a period in which they were free to emigrate to regions where their desired religion prevailed.


Modern history


Post-French revolution era

In the war of the
First Coalition The War of the First Coalition (french: Guerre de la Première Coalition) was a set of wars that several European powers fought between 1792 and 1797 initially against the constitutional Kingdom of France and then the French Republic that succ ...
, revolutionary France defeated the coalition of Prussia, Austria, Spain, and Britain. One result was the cession of the Rhineland to France by the Treaty of Basel in 1795. Eight years later, in 1803, to compensate the princes of the annexed territories, a set of mediatisations was carried out, which brought about a major redistribution of territorial sovereignty within the Empire.


Kulturkampf

A main theme of European history in the 18th and especially 19th century was the
secularization In sociology, secularization (or secularisation) is the transformation of a society from close identification with religious values and institutions toward non-religious values and secular institutions. The ''secularization thesis'' expresses the ...
of society which was vehemently opposed by the Catholic Church. In Germany, this process had its first culmination in the
German revolutions of 1848–49 German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...
and, after their suppression, gained new momentum with the establishment of liberal governments in various German states in the 1850s and 1860s and in the empire in the 1870s. The Catholic Church, an outspoken opponent of
Liberalism Liberalism is a political and moral philosophy based on the rights of the individual, liberty, consent of the governed, political equality and equality before the law."political rationalism, hostility to autocracy, cultural distaste for c ...
, had opposed German unification under predominantly
Protestant Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century against what its followers perceived to b ...
Prussia Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an ...
n leadership and the Church was seen as defending the oppressed Catholic Polish minority which German nationalists saw as a threat. Therefore, Chancellor Bismarck regarded the Church as a threat to the newly founded empire, especially after establishment of a Catholic political
party A party is a gathering of people who have been invited by a host for the purposes of socializing, conversation, recreation, or as part of a festival or other commemoration or celebration of a special occasion. A party will often featur ...
which became a strong opposition in parliament. The Liberals, particularly in light of new Catholic dogmas promulgated under Pope Pius IX in the 1860s and at the Council of 1870, had always considered the Catholic Church as an enemy of progress. Laws enacted in the state of Prussia and in the empire in the early 1870s to curb Catholic influence in public affairs met with open resistance of the Church leading to heated public debates in the media and in the parliaments during which the term “ Kulturkampf” gained widespread currency. Diplomatic ties with the Vatican were cut and additional laws were passed to quell Catholic opposition. This only resulted in more support by the Catholic population and more resistance by the Church. During the Kulturkampf, four bishops and 185 priests in defiance of the laws were trialed and imprisoned and many more were fined or went into exile. After the death of Pius IX in 1878, Bismarck took up negotiations with more conciliatory
Pope Leo XIII Pope Leo XIII ( it, Leone XIII; born Vincenzo Gioacchino Raffaele Luigi Pecci; 2 March 1810 – 20 July 1903) was the head of the Catholic Church from 20 February 1878 to his death in July 1903. Living until the age of 93, he was the second-old ...
who proclaimed the end of the Kulturkampf on 23 May 1887.


Third Reich

After it failed to seize control of the Bavarian state in 1923, the nascent Nazi Party, by that time sharing the Bavarian bishops' view about the incompatibility of National Socialism and Christianity, no longer wanted to court Catholics. Hitler wanted to broaden its base. The Party leadership became anti-Catholic (especially attacking the bishops) and its inherent anti-Semitism became more virulent. To counter this, the bishops adopted a conditional ban or prohibition in regard to Catholic membership in the Party, which later (as Nazism spread throughout Germany) varied from diocese to diocese. Pius XI was eager to negotiate
concordat A concordat is a convention between the Holy See and a sovereign state that defines the relationship between the Catholic Church and the state in matters that concern both,René Metz, ''What is Canon Law?'' (New York: Hawthorn Books, 1960 st Edi ...
s with any country that was willing to do so, thinking that written treaties were the best way to protect the Church's rights against governments increasingly inclined to interfere in such matters. Twelve concordats were signed during his reign with various types of governments, including some German state governments. When Hitler became Chancellor of Germany in January 1933 and asked for a concordat, Pius XI accepted. Negotiations were conducted on his behalf by Cardinal Eugenio Pacelli, who later became Pope Pius XII (1939–1958). The
Reichskonkordat The ''Reichskonkordat'' ("Concordat between the Holy See and the German Reich") is a treaty negotiated between the Vatican and the emergent Nazi Germany. It was signed on 20 July 1933 by Cardinal Secretary of State Eugenio Pacelli, who later be ...
was signed by Pacelli and by the German government in June 1933 and included guarantees of liberty for the Church, independence for Catholic organisations and youth groups, and religious teaching in schools. The German bishops wanted the concordat, and its swift passage gave the new Nazi regime a considerable degree of legitimacy for its good behaving in foreign policy despite its long history of violent rhetoric. Kent says, "Without a doubt, the concordat was a diplomatic victory for Hitler. It was his first major success in the field of foreign policy, and it indicated to the world that the German Chancellor was politically reliable and trustworthy." Within a few weeks, however, serious friction arose over Nazi threats to the status of the Church. In particular there were issues of the oppression of Catholics of Jewish descent, dismissal of Catholics from the civil service, freedom of expression for Catholic newspapers, pressure on Catholic schools and organizations, sterilization laws, and persecution of nuns and priests.


''Mit brennender Sorge''

Pius XI responded to ever increasing Nazi hostility to Christianity by issuing in 1937 the encyclical ''
Mit brennender Sorge ''Mit brennender Sorge'' ( , in English "With deep anxiety") ''On the Church and the German Reich'' is an encyclical of Pope Pius XI, issued during the Nazi era on 10 March 1937 (but bearing a date of Passion Sunday, 14 March)."Church and st ...
'' condemning the Nazi ideology of racism and totalitarianism and Nazi violations of the concordat. The encyclical, written in German, was addressed to German bishops and was read in all parishes of Germany. The encyclical was kept secret in an attempt to ensure the unhindered public reading of its contents in all the Catholic Churches of Germany. This encyclical condemned particularly the paganism of National Socialist ideology, the myth of race and blood, and fallacies in the Nazi conception of God. After the encyclical German-Vatican relations deteriorated rapidly, and were marked by violent Nazi street demonstrations against two German bishops. Pius XI continued to criticize Nazi policies sharply and publicly, but he also avoided a complete rupture. He died at the peak of tension, in February 1939.


Pius XII

While Pope Pius XII was strongly opposed to Nazism, he was too quiet regarding the Holocaust according to later critics. Jacques Adler, however, has examined the transcripts of broadcasts over the
Vatican Radio Vatican Radio ( it, Radio Vaticana; la, Statio Radiophonica Vaticana) is the official broadcasting service of Vatican City. Established in 1931 by Guglielmo Marconi, today its programs are offered in 47 languages, and are sent out on short wave, ...
, which reached a wide audience over short wave. He argues that it exposed Nazi persecution of the Church and opposed collaboration with Nazism. It appealed to Catholics to remain true to their faith's injunctions: to defend the sanctity of life and the unity of humankind. In so doing the Pope pursued a policy of spiritual resistance to Nazi ideology and racism.


Contemporary history


East Germany

After World War II, the Catholics in the zone occupied by the Soviet army found themselves under a militantly atheist government. Many parishes were cut off from their dioceses in the western part of Germany. The Soviet zone eventually declared itself a sovereign nation, the
German Democratic Republic German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **G ...
(GDR). The GDR's constitution proclaimed the freedom of religious belief, but in reality the new state tried to abolish religion. The Catholic Church was small in East German (most people were Protestants). It had a fully functioning episcopal hierarchy that was in full accord with the Vatican. During the early postwar years, tensions were high. The Catholic Church as a whole and particularly the bishops were resistant to both the regime and Marxist ideology, and the state allowed the bishops to lodge protests, which they did on issues such as abortion. The bishops were, however, closely observed by the Stasi. After 1945, the Church did fairly well in integrating Catholic exiles from lands to the east (which were given to Poland) and adjusting its institutional structures against the threats of an atheistic state. Within the Church, this meant an increasingly hierarchical structure, whereas in the area of religious education, press, and youth organisations, a system of temporary staff was developed, one that took into account the special situation of the Caritas, a charity organisation. They were hardly affected by Communist attempts to force them into line. By 1950, therefore, there existed a Catholic subsociety that was well adjusted to prevailing specific conditions and capable of maintaining Catholic identity. With a generational change in the episcopacy taking place in the early 1980s, the state hoped for better relations with the new bishops, but the new bishops instead showed increasing independence from the state by holding unauthorised mass meetings, promoting international ties in discussions with theologians abroad, and hosting ecumenical conferences. The new bishops became less politically oriented and more involved in pastoral care and attention to spiritual concerns. The government responded by limiting international contacts for bishops.


See also

*
Apostolic Nuncio to Germany The Apostolic Nunciature to Germany is an ecclesiastical office of the Roman Catholic Church in Germany. It is a diplomatic post of the Holy See, whose representative is called the Apostolic Nuncio to Germany with the rank of an ambassador. Th ...
*
Roman Catholicism in Germany , native_name_lang = de , image = Hohe_Domkirche_St._Petrus.jpg , imagewidth = 200px , alt = , caption = Cologne Cathedral, Cologne , abbreviation = , type = Nat ...


References


Further reading

* Bennett, Rebecca Ayako. ''Fighting for the Soul of Germany: The Catholic Struggle for Inclusion after Unification'' (2012
excerpt and text search
* Forster, Marc R. ''Catholic Germany from the Reformation to the Enlightenment'' (2008) * Gross, Michael B. ''The War against Catholicism: Liberalism and the Anti-Catholic Imagination in Nineteenth-Century Germany'' (2005
excerpt and text search
* Kent, George O. "Pope Pius XII and Germany: Some Aspects of German-Vatican Relations, 1933-1943," ''American Historical Review'' (1964) 70#1 pp. 59–7
in JSTOR
* Latourette, Kenneth Scott. ''Christianity in a Revolutionary Age: A History of Christianity in the 19th and 20th Century: Vol 1 The Nineteenth Century in Europe'' (1958) pp 433–42 * Latourette, Kenneth Scott. ''Christianity in a Revolutionary Age: A History of Christianity in the 19th and 20th Century: Vol 4 The 20th Century in Europe'' (1961) pp 176–88 * Lewy, Guenter. ''The Catholic Church And Nazi Germany'' (2000
excerpt and text search
* Phayer, Michael. ''The Catholic Church and the Holocaust, 1930-1965'' (2000). * Rhodes, Anthony. ''The Vatican in the Age of the Dictators (1922–1945)'' (1973). {{DEFAULTSORT:Germany-Holy See relations
Holy See The Holy See ( lat, Sancta Sedes, ; it, Santa Sede ), also called the See of Rome, Petrine See or Apostolic See, is the jurisdiction of the Pope in his role as the bishop of Rome. It includes the apostolic episcopal see of the Diocese of R ...
Bilateral relations of the Holy See