Catholic socialism
Catholic socialism stands above all for a political and journalistic movement within and on the fringes of the Roman Catholic Church around the magazine Das Rote Blatt der Catholic Sozialisten . The movement and the magazine are linked to the names Heinrich Mertens , Walter Dirks and Ernst Michel . The political-theological line of the 1920s and 1930s developed by these and their co-authors and was in direct confrontation with Carl Schmitt's political theology through the youth movement Quickborn and Romano Guardini . It is generally considered to be the forerunner of political theology around Johann Baptist Metz .
Wilhelm Hohoff - as a pioneer
The ideas of the red pastor and Marx connoisseur Wilhelm Hohoff were taken up in the early twenties in particular by Theodor Steinbüchel , Ernst Michel and the employees of the Rhein-Mainische Volkszeitung , Heinrich Mertens and Walter Dirks.
Ernst Michels and the fact sheets
From 1921 to 1923 Ernst Michel published three "Catholic specials" for the magazine Die Tat . A selection of the contributions was published in 1923 in the anthology "Church and Reality", also published by Eugen Diederichs . Joseph Wittig's essays were placed on the Index Librorum Prohibitorum , and the book as a whole was criticized because it was published without an ecclesiastical imprimatur . A main point of criticism was the close proximity to religious socialism .
The circle around the Rhein-Mainische Volkszeitung
The Rhein-Mainische Volkszeitung , founded by Friedrich Dessauer , was soon regarded as a left Catholic and reform Catholic publication with a tendency towards religious socialism due to the authors Ernst Michel , Walter Dirks , Heinrich Mertens , Heinrich Scharp and Werner Thormann .
Ernst Michel's "Politics from Faith"
Ernst Michels, primarily directed against Carl Schmitt's "Political Theology" book "Politics from the Faith" from 1926, was listed on the Index Librorum Prohibitorum because of the approach that the church authorities felt was too socialist. In particular, his collaboration with Heinrich Mertens and the associated "commitment to socialism" in the "Rote Blätter" may have contributed to the conviction.
The Union of Catholic Socialists Germany
In 1928 Mertens founded the “Association of Catholic Socialists in Germany” with its seat in Cologne. The aim of the federal government was to combine the Catholic faith with socialist ideas. Above all, young Social Democrats were among the members, some young chaplains joined under pseudonyms. A prominent member of the Federation and a spiritual leader was again Ernst Michel. Overall, however, the social democracy showed little interest, the papal encyclical " Quadragesimo anno " in 1931 emphasized the incompatibility of Christianity and socialism on the part of the church.
The Red Sheet of the Catholic Socialists
The monthly “Red Sheet of Catholic Socialists” functioned as the federal forum. It appeared for the first time in January 1929 and for the last time in November / December 1930 and had around 1,800 subscribers, mainly Catholic corporations, intellectuals and Catholic, but also some Protestant theologians. Contributions came from Willi Hammelrath and Georg Wünsch , among others . From January 1931 the “Rote Blatt” was merged with the “ Zeitschrift für Religion und Sozialismus ” published by Wünsch since 1929 , the scientific organ of the evangelical religious socialists. While Wünsch remained the editor, Heinrich Mertens took over the editing. It was published until 1933.
literature
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Eduard Dietz ,
- The “Association of Catholic Socialists” (In memory of Wilhelm Hohoff), in: SdaV, February 14, 1926
- Wilhelm Hohoff and the Association of Catholic Socialists, Karlsruhe-Rüppur undated (1927/28)
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Klaus Kreppel ,
- Fire and water. Catholic Socialists in the Weimar Republic. In: “Critical Catholicism. Newspaper for theory and practice in society and the church. ”Formerly Rothenfelser Hefte. 4th year Cologne 1971. No. 6, p. 4.
- Decision for socialism. The political biography of Pastor Wilhelm Hohoff 1848–1923 (series of publications by the Research Institute of the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung 114), Bonn-Bad Godesberg 1974, p. 106 f.
- Wilhelm Hohoff - the "Red Pastor" and the Catholic Socialists. In: Günter Ewald (Ed.): Religious Socialism. Berlin-Cologne-Mainz 1977, p. 79 ff.
- Andreas Lienkamp , Theodor Steinbüchel's Reception of Socialism. A Christian-Social-Ethical Relecture, Paderborn-Munich-Vienna-Zurich: Schöningh 2000 ( digitized version ).
- Bruno Lowitsch, The circle around the Rhein-Mainische Volkszeitung. Steiner, 1980, p. 26.
- Heinrich Mertens (Ed.),
- The Red Sheet of the Catholic Socialists. Year 1 and 2. Mittelrheinische Druckerei und Verlagsanstalt, Cologne 1929 / Verlag der religious socialists, Mannheim 1930. Unchanged reprint: Auvermann, Glashütten im Taunus 1972.
- Catholic socialists. Publishing house of the religious socialists, Mannheim 1930.
- with Heinz Kühn and Walter Dirks, Unforgotten bridges. Edited by the Central Committee of the Socialist Educational Communities of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia. Reddigau, Cologne 1962.
- Susanne Hedler, The Catholic Socialists, presentation of their work. Dissertation Hamburg 1952