The situation did not change during World War II. Please read the New York Times article reproduced on this page that appeared during the first month of that war. It reinforces what Friedrich Heer, a Roman Catholic professor of history at Vienna University, later acknowledged in his book God’s First Love:

“In the cold facts of German history, the Cross and the swastika came ever closer together, until the swastika proclaimed the message of victory from the towers of German cathedrals, swastika flags appeared round altars and Catholic and Protestant theologians, pastors, churchmen and statesmen welcomed the alliance with Hitler.”​—Page 247.

[Box on page 5]

THE NEW YORK TIMES

Monday, September 25, 1939.

German Soldiers Rallied by Churches

Protestant and Catholic Exhort to Reich Victory and Just Peace

Wireless to The New York Times

FRANKFORT-ON-THE-MAIN, Germany, Sept. 24​—Periodicals of the German Protestant and Catholic Churches are now publishing many exhortive articles explaining the duties of soldiers fighting in the defense of their country and admonishing the German soldiers to fight in the spirit of Saint Michael for a German victory and a just peace.

The archangel is shown, brandishing a battlesword and piercing a dragon with a holy lance, on the front page of Catholic papers.

In the western and southern German Catholic dioceses, the clergy headed by the Archbishop and Bishops, are actively engaged in work for the welfare of refugees evacuated from the western frontier districts. Many cloisters have been transformed into hospitals and the monks and nuns are working under the direction of the Red Cross.

The Catholic Bishops of Germany have issued a pastoral letter stating:

“In this decisive hour we admonish our Catholic soldiers to do their duty in obedience to the Fuehrer and be ready to sacrifice their whole individuality.

“We appeal to the faithful to join in ardent prayers that the Divine Providence of God Almighty may lead this war to blessed success and peace for our fatherland and nations.”

Each Bishop in addition has issued a special message to his own diocese, including the Bishop of Rottenburg in Wuerttemberg, who was expelled from his diocese last year for refusing to vote in a national Socialist election.

Cardinal Archbishop Bertram, head of the German Episcopal Congregation, has similarily issued a patriotic message to his flock urging that all “be strong in your heart, all you who confide in God Almighty.”