The Reich Bishop and the Vatican Reich Bishop Muller is
to be installed on Sunday as Primate of the German Evangelical Church. Out of the 16,000-17,000 Protestant pastors between 6,000 and 7,000 have come out openly against him by joining the Pastors' Emergency League, and there are un- doubtedly many more who share their views but hesitate to face the danger of expressing them publicly. But the Reich Bishop has suddenly diverted public attention from divisions in the Protestant Church by the remarkable speech he made at Hanover on Wednesday on his hope of a single German Church. free from Rome. The Reich Bishop has long since proclaimed himself by hiS public utterances a politician in priest's clothing, incapable of spiritual understanding. but this application of the Nazi process of Gleichshaltung to the Roman Catholic Church itself is on the face of it an act of folly that may have far-reaching consequences. The concordat with the Vatican is not yet concluded ; the Catholic Saar has to vote on the question of- a return to Nazi Germany ; Austria is Catholic ; South Germany is Catholic. For that matter Herr Hitler, whose attitude to the Church controversy remains undefined, is a Roman Catholic himself. In a conflict with Rome Dr. Muller will hardly succeed where Bismarck failed.
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