Editing Mit brennender Sorge (section)

==Authorship==
[[File:Michael von Faulhaber, by Wilhelm Knarr, circa 1936 (2).jpg|thumb|Cardinal Michael Faulhaber (around 1936)]]
A five-member commission drafted the encyclical. According to Paul O'Shea the carefully worded denunciation of aspects of Nazism was formulated between 16 and 21 January 1937, by Pius XI, Cardinal Secretary of State [[Eugenio Pacelli]] (later Pope Pius XII) and German cardinals [[Adolf Bertram|Bertram]], Faulhaber and [[Karl Schulte|Schulte]], and Bishops [[Konrad von Preysing|Preysing]] and [[Clemens August Graf von Galen|Galen]].<ref>Paul O'Shea, A Cross too Heavy, p.156</ref> Cardinal Bertram of Breslau was the chairman of the German Conference of Bishops, and after the Nazi takeover he had favoured a non-confrontational approach toward the government and developed a protest system which "satisfied the demands of the other bishops without annoying the regime".<ref>Joachim Fest; ''Plotting Hitler's Death: The German Resistance to Hitler 1933–1945''; Weidenfeld & Nicolson; London; p.32"</ref> Berlin's Bishop [[Konrad von Preysing]] had been one of the most consistent and outspoken critics of the Nazi regime to emerge from the German Church hierarchy.<ref name="Honourable Defeat pp.58-59">[[Anton Gill]]; An Honourable Defeat; A History of the German Resistance to Hitler; Heinemann; London; 1994; pp.58–59</ref><ref name="Konrad Graf von Preysing">[http://www.gdw-berlin.de/en/recess/biographies/index_of_persons/ Konrad Graf von Preysing]; German Resistance Memorial Centre, Index of Persons; retrieved at 4 September 2013</ref> Munich's Archbishop [[Michael von Faulhaber]] had been a staunch defender of Catholic rights.<ref>Theodore S. Hamerow; On the Road to the Wolf's Lair – German Resistance to Hitler; Belknap Press of Harvard University Press; 1997; {{ISBN|0-674-63680-5}}; p. 140</ref> The conservative Bishop of Münster, [[Clemens August Graf von Galen|Count Galen]], would later distinguish himself by leading the Church's [[Nazi euthanasia and the Catholic Church|protest against Nazi euthanasia]].<ref>Anton Gill; An Honourable Defeat; A History of the German Resistance to Hitler; Heinemann; London; 1994; p.59</ref>

Cardinal Faulhaber's draft of the encyclical, consisting of eleven large single sheets and written in his own hand, was presented to Vatican Secretary of State Pacelli on 21 January.<ref name="Falconi, 1967, p. 229"/> Falconi said that the encyclical "was not so much an amplification of Faulhaber's draft as a faithful and even literal transcription of it" while "Cardinal Pacelli, at Pius XI's request, merely added a full historical introduction on the background of the Concordat with the Third Reich."<ref name="Falconi, 1967, p. 229"/> According to John-Peter Pham, Pius XI credited the encyclical to Cardinal Pacelli.<ref name="Pham45">Pham, ''Heirs of the Fisherman: Behind the Scenes of Papal Death and Succession'' (2005), p. 45</ref> According to historian Frank J. Coppa, Cardinal Pacelli wrote a draft that the Pope thought was too weak and unfocused and therefore substituted a more critical analysis.<ref name="coppa">''The Papacy, the Jews, and the Holocaust'', Frank J. Coppa, pp. 162–163, CUA Press, 2006, {{ISBN|0-8132-1449-1}}</ref>  Pacelli described the encyclical as "a compromise" between the Holy See's sense that it could not be silent set against "its fears and worries".<ref name="coppa"/>

According to Robert A. Ventresca, professor at King's University College at the University of Western Ontario, [[Michael von Faulhaber|Cardinal Faulhaber]], who wrote a first draft, was adamant that the encyclical should be careful in both its tone and substance and should avoid explicit reference to Nazism or the Nazi Party.<ref>Robert Ventresca, Soldier of Christ, p.118; "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.", The Catholic Herald, p. 3, 9 April 1937 [http://archive.catholicherald.co.uk/article/9th-april-1937/3/first-encyclical-in-german]</ref> Historian [[William Shirer]]  wrote that the document accused the regime of sowing the "tares of suspicion, discord, hatred, calumny, of secret and open fundamental hostility to Christ and His Church".<ref name="William L. Shirer p234-5"/> According to Historian [[Klaus Scholder]], the leader of the German Bishops conference, [[Adolf Bertram|Cardinal Bertram]], sought to blunt the impact of the encyclical by ordering that critical passages should not be read aloud. He took the view that "introductory thoughts about the failure of the Reich government to observe the treaty are meant more for the leaders, not for the great mass of believers."<ref name="Scholder p. 159">Scholder, Requiem for Hitler, p. 159</ref>