Pulpit paragraph
The Pulpit Law was from 1871 to 1953 (West Germany) and 1968 ( German Democratic Republic ) a provision of the German Criminal Code , which an opinion to the clergy of all religions in the performance of their duties for political affairs with the threat of a prison sentence forbade up to two years .
story
Empire
During the Kulturkampf , the leadership of the empire, led by Otto von Bismarck, took action against clergymen who commented on political events in their sermons . This so-called " pulpit abuse " was prohibited in a new section 130a, which was inserted into the Criminal Code on December 10, 1871:
- "A clergyman or other religious servant who, in the exercise or at the instigation of the exercise of his profession, publicly in front of a crowd, or who in a church, or at another place designated for religious gatherings, before several affairs of the state in a manner that endangers public peace Makes objects of a proclamation or discussion is punished with imprisonment or imprisonment for up to two years. "
As a result of this criminal provision, there were also politically motivated prison sentences against Catholic clergy. The popular Archbishop of Poznan Mieczysław Count Halka-Ledóchowski was sentenced to a maximum sentence of two years and was actually imprisoned in February 1874.
An amendment of February 26, 1876 extended the regulation to the distribution of writings:
- "The same punishment applies to those clergymen or other religious servants who, in the exercise of or at the instigation of the exercise of their profession, issue or disseminate documents on which state affairs are made the subject of proclamation or discussion in a manner that endangers public peace."
Third Reich
As a Protestant pastor, Martin Niemöller was one of the prominent clergymen of the Confessing Church who were persecuted by the National Socialist judiciary for "pulpit abuse" using the pulpit paragraph. Catholic clergymen were also prosecuted in the Third Reich for this paragraph, for example Father Rupert Mayer . He was banned from preaching because of his comments critical of the regime. In June 1939 Mayer declared in writing to the Gestapo :
- “I declare that in the event of my release I will continue to preach on the basis of fundamental considerations, despite the ban on speaking. I will continue to preach in the manner I have practiced so far, even if the state authorities, the police and the courts should judge my pulpit speeches as a criminal offense and as pulpit abuse. "
In 1942, the Catholic priest Bernhard Lichtenberg was sentenced to two years in prison for pulpit abuse and offenses against the treachery law because he had prayed publicly for Jews and concentration camp prisoners:
- “An anonymous hate speech against the Jews is being distributed in Berlin houses. It asserts that every German who supports the Jews in any way out of allegedly false sentimentality, even if it is through friendly accommodation, is betraying his people. Do not be confused by this unchristian attitude, but rather act according to the strict command of Jesus Christ: You shall love your neighbor as yourself! "
Lichtenberg was then charged with a violation of Section 130a of the RStGB and the Heimtückegesetz .
Federal Republic
In the Federal Republic of Germany the paragraph was repealed by Art. 2 No. 18 Third Criminal Law Amendment Act of August 4, 1953.
literature
- Stephan Schmidl: Gestapo, criminal justice and 'pulpit abuse' in southern Bavaria 1933 to 1939 . Munich 2002, ISBN 3-8316-6177-4 .
Web links
- Third Criminal Law Amendment Act of August 4, 1953 ( Federal Law Gazette I p. 735 )
- Resistance of the Catholic Church
supporting documents
- ^ Protestant pastors of the Berlin-Brandenburg Church 1945–1961. Lukas-Verlag, 2004, ISBN 3-936872-18-X , p. 310.
- ↑ de.wikisource.org (full text)
- ↑ Berliner Tageblatt and Handels-Zeitung , Thursday, March 3, 1938, p. 3, column 1
- ^ Resistance of the Catholic Church. (No longer available online.) Archived from the original on October 7, 2011 ; Retrieved August 4, 2012 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Speech by District Mayor Monika Thiemen on the unveiling of a memorial plaque for Bernhard Lichtenberg. Retrieved August 3, 2014 .
