Silencing and ridicule, rather than outward persecution, is the method now adopted by the Nazi regime against the Christian Churches, and particularly against Catholics, according to information received in Geneva from Germany.
Obviously hitter antagonism would be aroused 'among the people, if, in times of war where the solace of religion is more essential than ever, they were deprived of it by violent means. Accordingly, the Nazi chieftains avoid all semblance of antiChristian activities, but their underground propaganda against all things Christian is carried on with the same emphasis as ever.
HIERARCHY MUZZLED
The German Hierarchy is completely deprived of all means to communicate freely with the faithful. For a good many months no Pastorals have been read from German pulpits. The Bishops know all too well that they have no longer any freedom in expressing their views, and they refrain from taking a stand publicly as long as they cannot present all sides of a question unhampered.
During their recent apnual conference at Fulda, the Bishops discussed matters freely, but at the personal request of the Holy Father they committed each other to silence, so all the information disseminated on that meeting in the secular Press must he considered spurious.
A story which emanated from the Nazi Propaganda Office in Berlin made it appear as though the German Bishops were in a mood to express their adherence to the Nazi regime. No statement could be further from the truth.