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Brown and Black Boundaries: Nazism and German Catholicism in the Summer of 1933
- The Catholic Historical Review
- The Catholic University of America Press
- Volume 104, Number 2, Spring 2018
- pp. 268-297
- 10.1353/cat.2018.0026
- Article
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Abstract:
This article examines the 1933 pilgrimage to the Holy Coat of Jesus in Trier. The Bishop of Trier, Franz Rudolf Bornewasser, hoped that the pilgrimage would signal the beginning of a peaceful relationship with the Third Reich as Nazi Germany was negotiating a Concordat with the Vatican. Instead, the event became the focal point of a struggle over the boundaries of public religiosity and revealed the limits of Church authority. Nazi officials encroached on Catholic autonomy by taking over security for the event and insisting the Church pay for their service. Catholic laity, both in Germany and abroad, feared traveling to Trier because of the strong Nazi presence in the city.