The Bargain

Negotiations for a concordat covering the whole German Reich had run intermittently since the 1920s and had failed, principally over schools. They concluded in four months in 1933. Cardinal Eugenio Pacelli, the Secretary of State who had negotiated the Bavarian and Prussian concordats, led for the Holy See; Franz von Papen led for the German government.

What the church obtained was a schedule of guarantees. Freedom to profess and practise the Catholic religion, and to administer its own affairs within the limits of the law applying to all. The continuation of Catholic confessional schools and the establishment of new ones where parents asked. Protection for Catholic organisations engaged in religious, cultural or charitable work. The seal of confession and the free communication of bishops with their clergy and faithful. And the appointment of bishops by the Holy See, with the state given the opportunity to object on general political grounds before the appointment was published.

What the state obtained was in Article 32 and its neighbours. Clergy and members of religious orders were to abstain from membership of and activity for political parties, and the Holy See undertook to secure that. Catholic organisations were to confine themselves to non-political work. In a state that had just outlawed the other parties, that meant the withdrawal of a large and organised electorate from public life. The Centre Party dissolved itself on 5 July, fifteen days before signature.