Franz Justus Rarkowski, S.M. (June 8, 1873 – February 9, 1950''Catholic-Hierarchy''.
Bishop Franz Justus Rarkowski, S.M. †
.) was the Catholic military bishop of

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

. The existence of such a role was provided for by the ''

Reichskonkordat The ''Reichskonkordat'' ("Concordat between the Holy See and the German Reich") is a treaty negotiated between the Vatican and the emergent Nazi Germany. It was signed on 20 July 1933 by Cardinal Secretary of State Eugenio Pacelli, who later be ...

'' (1933), and Rarkowski had been acting head of the military chaplaincy since 1929, before he was officially consecrated on February 29, 1938 as ''episcopus castrensis''.Barry, 1969, p. 218. Rarkowski's title was translated into English as "Field Bishop of the German Army".''New York Times''. October 5, 1940. "Catholic Bishop Says Nazis Wage 'Just War'." p. 4. The first draft of the Apostolic Brief to regulate the military chaplaincy was given to the German government on June 26, 1934. The brief was issued on September 19, 1935.Lewy, 2000, p. 237.

Biography

Rarkowski was born in

Allenstein Olsztyn ( , ; german: Allenstein ; Old Prussian: ''Alnāsteini'' * Latin: ''Allenstenium'', ''Holstin'') is a city on the Łyna River in northern Poland. It is the capital of the Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship, and is a city with powiat rights, ...

East Prussia East Prussia ; german: Ostpreißen, label= Low Prussian; pl, Prusy Wschodnie; lt, Rytų Prūsija was a province of the Kingdom of Prussia from 1773 to 1829 and again from 1878 (with the Kingdom itself being part of the German Empire from 1 ...

(today Olsztyn, Poland). He was a former associate of President

Paul von Hindenburg Paul Ludwig Hans Anton von Beneckendorff und von Hindenburg (; abbreviated ; 2 October 1847 – 2 August 1934) was a German field marshal and statesman who led the Imperial German Army during World War I and later became President of Germany fr ...

, and Ambassador Diego von Bergen was informed in July 1935 that he was the favored candidate of the Nazi Party. Rarkowski had not graduated from high school, but was admitted to study theology for the priesthood in Switzerland, where he left his religious order. According to historian

Guenter Lewy Guenter Lewy (born 22 August 1923) is a German-born American author and political scientist who is a professor emeritus of political science at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. His works span several topics, but he is most often associat ...

, the German bishops' opposition to Rarkowski's candidacy "stemmed from the episcopate's feeling that he was their inferior and a threat to their status rather than from the unacceptability of his political ideas". Nuncio

Cesare Orsenigo Cesare Vincenzo Orsenigo (December 13, 1873 – April 1, 1946) was Apostolic Nuncio to Germany from 1930 to 1945, during the rise of Nazi Germany and World War II. Along with the German ambassador to the Vatican, Diego von Bergen and later Ernst ...

argued that Rarkowski, at 62, was too old for the post, but raised no other objections.Lewy, 2000, p. 238. Rarkowski was named acting army bishop in August 1936. He was consecrated by Orsenigo, assisted by

Konrad von Preysing Johann Konrad Maria Augustin Felix, Graf von Preysing Lichtenegg-Moos (30 August 1880 – 21 December 1950) was a German prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. Considered a significant figure in Catholic resistance to Nazism, he served as B ...

and

Clemens August Graf von Galen Clemens Augustinus Emmanuel Joseph Pius Anthonius Hubertus Marie Graf von Galen (16 March 1878 – 22 March 1946), better known as ''Clemens August Graf von Galen'', was a German count, Bishop of Münster, and cardinal of the Catholic Church ...

. The

Catholic bishops in Nazi Germany Catholic bishops in Nazi Germany differed in their responses to the rise of Nazi Germany, World War II, and the Holocaust during the years 1933–1945. In the 1930s, the Episcopate of the Catholic Church of Germany comprised 6 Archbishops and 19 ...

had long opposed the existence of such a role, while Hitler's government demanded that the military chaplaincy be exempt from the episcopal jurisdiction of the diocesan bishops. Once the hierarchy consented to Rarkowski's consecration, he was excluded from the meetings of the

Fulda Conference The German Bishops' Conference (german: Deutsche Bischofskonferenz) is the episcopal conference of the bishops of the Roman Catholic dioceses in Germany. Members include diocesan bishops, coadjutors, auxiliary bishops, and diocesan administrat ...

except when military matters were discussed. His office was in the defense ministry in Berlin. Rarkowski was a public and vocal supporter of the Nazi regime, known especially for his nationalistic and militaristic speeches and writings. On the eve of the

1939 invasion of Poland The invasion of Poland (1 September – 6 October 1939) was a joint attack on the Second Polish Republic, Republic of Poland by Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union which marked the beginning of World War II. The German invasion began on 1 Septem ...

, Rarkowski told soldiers: "Comrades, the issue is your homeland and your people! Be manly and strong!".Doris L. Bergen. 2001. "German Military Chaplains in World War II and the Dilemmas of Legitimacy". ''Church History'', 70(2): p. 232. In an October 4, 1940 pastoral letter, Rarkowski argued that Germany was "waging a

just war The just war theory ( la, bellum iustum) is a doctrine, also referred to as a tradition, of military ethics which is studied by military leaders, theologians, ethicists and policy makers. The purpose of the doctrine is to ensure that a war i ...

" and praised German Catholic soldiers for the "Christian attitude they have maintained on the field of battle". Rarkowski continued: :"The German Nation has a great duty to fulfill in the face of the Eternal Almighty. Abroad and at home the Fuehrer has thanked God that his plea for His blessing for our good and just cause was expressed more than once, and was understood. Certainly, other nations opposed to us pray to God and beg Him to grant them victory. God is, in the same manner, Father of all nations, but He is not, in the same manner, arbiter of justice and injustice, of honesty and mendacity. From reports of field chaplains who were with you on all fronts during the past year, I was able to observe how naturally and joyfully you participated in religious services and received the sacraments, not only immediately before battle, but also in the many months when the fronts were quiet. Your Christian faith was everywhere where you, as soldiers, often had to achieve the superhuman, and was a valuable part of your spiritual and moral equipment." There were 560 Catholic military chaplains in Nazi Germany at the outbreak of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

.Lewy, 2000, p. 236.

Hermann Göring Hermann Wilhelm Göring (or Goering; ; 12 January 1893 – 15 October 1946) was a German politician, military leader and convicted war criminal. He was one of the most powerful figures in the Nazi Party, which ruled Germany from 1933 to 1 ...

had forbidden such chaplains in the air force, but the other branches of the military were generally supportive of the institution. After the remilitarisation of West Germany in 1955, when the military vicarate was re-established, it was independent of the army authorities; Pius XII appointed Cardinal Josef Wendel of Munich as new military ordinariate for

West Germany West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...

. In communist

East Germany East Germany, officially the German Democratic Republic (GDR; german: Deutsche Demokratische Republik, , DDR, ), was a country that existed from its creation on 7 October 1949 until its dissolution on 3 October 1990. In these years the state ...

there was no established military chaplaincy.

Notes

References

*Barry, Colman James. (1969). ''American Nuncio: Cardinal Aloisius Muench''. Collegeville, MN: Saint John’s University Press, 1969. * , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Rarkowski, Franz Josef 1873 births 1950 deaths People from Olsztyn People from the Province of Prussia Brown priests (Nazism) German military chaplains 20th-century German Roman Catholic bishops World War II chaplains 20th-century German Roman Catholic priests

Biography

See also

Notes

References