Reichskonkordat

The Reichskonkordat is a treaty between the Holy See and Nazi Germany, signed on July 20, 1933 by Cardinal Secretary of State Eugenio Pacelli, later Pope Pius XII, on behalf of Pope Pius XI, and by Vice Chancellor Franz von Papen on behalf of President Paul von Hindenburg and the German government. Ratified on September 10, 1933, it guarantees the rights of the Catholic Church in Germany, requires bishops to swear an oath of loyalty to the head of the German state, and requires clergy to abstain from party political activity. The Nazis began breaching the agreement soon after signing it, prompting Church protests including Pope Pius XI's 1937 encyclical Mit brennender Sorge; the Nazis described the concordat as lending moral legitimacy to their regime after Hitler had acquired near-dictatorial powers under the Enabling Act. The treaty remains in force. This description is adapted from Wikipedia contributors under CC BY-SA 4.0; changes were made. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/