Clemens August Graf von Galen: Neue Forschungen zum Leben und Wirken des Bischofs von Münster ed. by Joachim Kuropka (review)

BOOK REVIEWS 281 In sum, this book is written for specialists in the study of twentieth-century France by a young scholar of truly outstanding professional ability. It supersedes the earlier biography of Cardinal Saliège by Jean Guitton and sets a lofty standard for future biographers of church leaders. Francis J. Murphy Boston College ClemensAugust Graf von Galen: Neue Forschungen zum Leben und Wirken des Bischofs von Münster. Edited by Joachim Kuropka. (Münster: Regensburg . 1992. Pp. 439. DM 48.) Clemens August Grafvon Galen, Bishop of Münster (and, after the war, Cardinal ), earned the reputation of being a résister to National Socialism. At home and abroad, von Galen was depicted as a representative ofthe "other" Germany; the Germany which refused to be co-ordinated to Nazism's ideology. He received worldwide fame in August, 1941, when he delivered a series of sermons in which he took aim at Nazi policies, especially that ofthe euthanasia program. Von Galen, the strong Catholic prelate, opposed Nazism's attempts to interfere with the practice of Catholicism in Germany.Von Galen, the ultra-nationalist, at the same time praised the German invasion of the Soviet Union. This works suggests the complexities of a conservative German Catholic nationalist who chose his positions concerning National Socialism selectively. Several German monographs studying the bishop already exist. The present volume is a valuable collection of recent studies, edited by Joachim Kuropka. Brought up in an aristocratic and strict household, the young "Clau's" intellectual and spiritual development is explored in the first three essays. Barbara Imbusch cites von Galen's ultra-nationalism duringWorldWar I when he called for the replacement of the Lithuanian population by settling German Catholic nobility in their place (p. 39). Other essays, such as Klemen-August Recker's, show von Galen to have been not only ultra-nationalistic,but also anti-democratic and anti-socialist. Joachim Maier and Susanne Leschinski focus on the bishop's ideas of justice and natural rights. In the latter essay,the author emphasizes von Galen's overarching anti-Communism and his strong criticism ofthe British occupation forces in postwar Germany. Maier, like Leschinski, points out how throughout von Galen's religious career (which began in 1919 and ended with his death in 1946) he remained a nationalist who adamantly rejected any notion of German guilt. The essays by Willenborg, Koopmeiners, Damberg, and Arens examine von Galen on religious instruction. Willenborg and Koopmeiners highlight the bishop's constant struggle to ensure religious education for the young children in his diocese. Damberg argues that von Galen, at the Synod of 1936 in Münster, 282 BOOK REVIEWS laid the preliminary groundwork forVatican Council II by stressing the need for Catholics to participate in an urban, pluralistic society while still maintaining their faith through close networks of unions, associations, and educational groups within the Catholic community. Arens looks at what the three famous summer sermons came to mean and concludes that von Galen came to represent a "religious Führer" (p. 401) of Germany. Yet Teuber and Seelhorst provide evidence how the German episcopacy, including von Galen, backed away from speaking out forJews. Perhaps the most pivotal essay in the book is by the editor when he directly addresses the issue of how historians today are struggling to redefine what constitutes resistance. According to him, von Galen was a résister because he was so viewed by the Hitler government. The cement which holds this together is the theme that von Galen's postwar image remains largely intact. Beth Griech-Polelle Rutgers University El catolicismo mundialy la guerra de España. ByJavier Tusell and Genoveva García Quiepo de Llano. (Madrid: Biblioteca de Autores Cristianos. 1993. Pp. xiii, 384.) The Spanish Civil war was a defining moment for Catholics throughout the world. In this fine study, the authors measure the impact of that struggle upon Catholics in Spain, France, Italy, Britain, and the United States. The work is based on an exhaustive reading of the sources, primarily the press and the polemical writings of the engaged. Three major events of the war influenced Catholic views: the anticlerical fury of 1936 which resulted in the deaths of thousands of clergy...