The Pulpit Law (German ''Kanzelparagraph'') was a section (§ 130a) to the ''Strafgesetzbuch'' (the German Criminal Code) passed by the
Reichstag in 1871 during the German
Kulturkampf
(, 'culture struggle') was the conflict that took place from 1872 to 1878 between the Catholic Church in Germany, Catholic Church led by Pope Pius IX and the government of Kingdom of Prussia, Prussia led by Otto von Bismarck. The main issues wer ...
or fight against the Catholic Church. It made it a crime for any cleric in public to make a political statements that the government thought would "endanger the public peace." It applied to all of Germany. The law reads:
The passage of the law was part of an
anti-clerical
Anti-clericalism is opposition to religious authority, typically in social or political matters. Historical anti-clericalism has mainly been opposed to the influence of Roman Catholicism. Anti-clericalism is related to secularism, which seeks to ...
campaign including various other laws. Clerics openly resisting these laws were fined or imprisoned and church property was confiscated. By 1872, clerics were banned from teaching in schools and the
Jesuits
, image = Ihs-logo.svg
, image_size = 175px
, caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits
, abbreviation = SJ
, nickname = Jesuits
, formation =
, founders = ...
were ordered out of the country. Historian Anthony Steinhoff reports The casualty totals:
:As of 1878, only three of eight Prussian dioceses still had bishops, some 1,125 of 4,600 parishes were vacant, and nearly 1,800 priests ended up in jail or in exile....Finally, between 1872 and 1878, numerous Catholic newspapers were confiscated, Catholic associations and assemblies were dissolved, and Catholic civil servants were dismissed merely on the pretence of having Ultramontane sympathies.
[Anthony J. Steinhoff, "Christianity and the creation of Germany", in Sheridan Gilley and Brian Stanley, eds., ''Cambridge History of Christianity: Volume 8: 1814-1914'' (2008) p 295]
The section remained in force until 1953 (in West Germany) and 1968 (In East Germany), though it was rarely enforced after 1878 when Chancellor Otto von Bismarck came to terms with the new Pope. However, several preachers - both Catholic and Protestant - were persecuted by the Nazi regime based on the Pulpit Law. Several religious orders like the Jesuits remained banned from the German Empire, confiscated properties were not returned, a de facto discrimination against the Catholic minority continued in Civil Service positions and civil marriage remained mandatory.
References
“Pulpit Law,” 10 December 1871
{{Authority control
Kulturkampf
History of Catholicism in Germany
Repealed German legislation
1871 in Germany