Editing Mit brennender Sorge (section)

== Catholic response ==
[[Ian Kershaw]] wrote that during the Nazi period, the churches "engaged in a bitter war of attrition with the regime, receiving the demonstrative backing of millions of churchgoers. Applause for Church leaders whenever they appeared in public, swollen attendances at events such as [[Corpus Christi Day]] processions, and packed church services were outward signs of the struggle of&nbsp;… especially of the Catholic Church – against Nazi oppression". While the Church ultimately failed to protect its youth organisations and schools, it did have some successes in mobilizing public opinion to alter government policies.<ref>Ian Kershaw; The Nazi Dictatorship: Problems and Perspectives of Interpretation; 4th Edn; Oxford University Press; New York; 2000; pp 210–11</ref> Anton Gill wrote that, in 1937, amidst the harassment of the church and following the hundreds of arrests and closure of Catholic presses that followed the issuing of ''Mit brennender Sorge'', at least 800,000 people attended a pilgrimage centred on Aachen – a massive demonstration by the standards of the day – and some 60,000 attended the 700th anniversary of the bishopric of [[Franconia]] – about equal to the city's entire population.<ref name="Anton Gill p.58"/>

The Vatican's Secretary of State, Cardinal Pacelli (later [[Pope Pius XII]]), wrote to Germany's [[Michael von Faulhaber|Cardinal Faulhaber]] on 2 April 1937 explaining that the encyclical was theologically and pastorally necessary "to preserve the True Faith in Germany." The encyclical also defended baptized Jews, still considered to be Jews by the Nazis because of racial theories unacceptable to the Church. Although the encyclical does not specifically mention the Jewish people,<ref>[http://www.bc.edu/dam/files/research_sites/cjl/texts/cjrelations/resources/articles/rhonheimer.htm Martin Rhonheimer, What was not Said] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140318110036/http://www.bc.edu/dam/files/research_sites/cjl/texts/cjrelations/resources/articles/rhonheimer.htm |date=18 March 2014 }}</ref> it condemns the exaltation of one race or blood over another, i.e. racism.<ref>''Mit brennnder Sorge'', §§ 8, 10, 11, 17, 23 in [https://www.vatican.va/content/pius-xi/en/encyclicals/documents/hf_p-xi_enc_14031937_mit-brennender-sorge.html English version]</ref> 

Following the issuing of the document, ''The Catholic Herald'' opined that this "great Encyclical in fact contains a summary of what most needs preserving as the basis for a Christian civilisation and a compendium of the most dangerous elements in Nazi doctrine and practice."<ref>[http://archive.catholicherald.co.uk/article/16th-april-1937/8/the-church-and-germany "The Church And Germany", Catholic Herald, 16 April 1937]</ref> and that:

<blockquote>Only a small portion of the Encyclical is against Germany's continuous violations of the Concordat; the larger part refers to false and dangerous doctrines which are officially spread in Germany and to which the Holy Father opposes the teaching of the Catholic Church. The word National Socialism does not appear at all in the document. The Pope has not tried to give a full analysis of the National Socialist doctrine. That would, indeed, have been impossible, as the Nazi movement is relatively young and it is doubtful whether certain ideas are "official" and essential parts of its doctrine or not. But one thing is beyond any doubt: If you take away from the National Socialist "faith" those false dogmas which have solemnly been condemned by the Holy Father in his Encyclical, the remainder will not deserve to be called National Socialism.<ref name="archive.catholicherald.co.uk"/></blockquote>

Austrian Bishop Gfoellner of Linz had the encyclical read from the pulpits of his diocese. ''The Catholic Herald'' reported:

<blockquote>The Bishop of Linz (Mgr. Gfoellner) who has always taken a very strong anti-Nazi and anti-Socialist stand in the district of Austria where there has been most trouble with both views, said before the reading of the document: "The fate of the Church in Germany cannot be a matter of indifference to us; it touches us very nearly." After indicating the reasons the Bishop added that the dangers of German Catholics were also the dangers of Austrian Catholics: "What I wrote in my pastoral of January 21, 1933. It is impossible to be at once a good Catholic and a good National-Socialist,' is confirmed today." Mgr. Gfoellner asked all Catholic parents to keep their children away from any organisation which sympathised with the ideology condemned by the Pope.<ref>"Austrian Bishop's Plain Words: Can't Be Good Nazi and Good Catholic", Catholic Herald, 16 April 1937 [http://archive.catholicherald.co.uk/article/16th-april-1937/3/austrian-bishops-plain-words-cant-be-good-nazi-and]</ref></blockquote>

In April 1938 The Vatican newspaper ''[[L'Osservatore Romano]]'' displayed for the first time "the historic headline" of "Religious Persecution in Germany" and reflected that what Pius XI had published in ''Mit brennender Sorge'' was now being clearly witnessed: "Catholic schools are closed, people are coerced to leave the Church&nbsp;… religious instruction of the Youth is made impossible{{nbsp}}... Catholic organisations are suppressed{{nbsp}}… a press campaign is made against the Church, while its own newspapers and magazines are suppressed{{nbsp}}…"<ref>"HISTORIC HEADLINE 'Religious Persecution in Germany'", Catholic Herald, 6 May 1938 [http://archive.catholicherald.co.uk/article/6th-may-1938/9/historic-headline-religious-persecution-in-germany]</ref>