Klaus Kühlwein

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Klaus Kühlwein (born April 29, 1955 in Viernheim ) is a German Catholic theologian and book author.

Life

Kühlwein studied social science , philosophy and theology in Kiel and Frankfurt am Main and in 1986 passed the second church service examination for the higher teaching post in Freiburg. In 1991 he did his doctorate on the Sermon on the Mount with Rupert Lay and Johannes Beutler at the Jesuit University of St. Georgen . He works at the educational center of the Archdiocese of Freiburg im Breisgau . Kühlwein's research focuses on the topic of "Catholic Church and National Socialism". He has permission to access the Vatican Secret Archives and the Archives of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith . Kühlwein is a member of the Görres Society .

Studies on Pius XII.

On the 50th anniversary of the death of Pope Pius XII. he published the study: Why the Pope was silent (Düsseldorf 2008). In this study he tries to prove the thesis that Pius XII. I kept silent about the Holocaust because of a fundamental ethical uncertainty , not because of anti-Semitism or anti-Judaism or sympathy with Hitler's fight against Stalinist Bolshevism or because of church-own or personal interests.

In a second study on the 70th anniversary of the Jewish raid, Kühlwein renewed and deepened his criticism. Pope Pius did not even respond to a call for help from Jews in hiding, “although, as Kühlwein is convinced, he could have prevented the capture and deportation of the Jews to Auschwitz. But he got caught up in diplomatic precautions and considerations that paralyzed him like a straitjacket. " According to Kühlwein, Pius' "protecting hand ... would have been even less problematic and risky than the following church asylum." At the end of the study (in the 1st edition), Kühlwein published an open letter to Pope Francis in which he addressed this and others. a. asks the “Vatican-supported myth about Pius XII. as the savior of the Jews during the raid ”. This myth suppresses the truth and prevents reconciling memory.

Because of his insecurity, Pius XII. made decisive and tragic mistakes. This applies above all to his hesitant behavior during the SS raid on the Jews in Rome on October 16, 1943 and the permission to deport more than 1,000 captured Jews to Auschwitz on October 18.

Kühlwein is one of the few contemporary theologians and historians who still clearly criticized Pius XII. formulate.

In a statement, Kühlwein criticized the decision of Pope Benedict XVI. (on December 19, 2009), the "heroic degree of virtue" in his controversial predecessor Pius XII. to acknowledge. That was a commitment to the imminent beatification , which was carried out hastily and without any time constraints.

As part of the commemoration of the 70th anniversary of the end of the war (2015), Kühlwein publicly demanded from the Vatican a confession of guilt for the diplomacy of Pius XII. In articles in the Frankfurter Rundschau and in the Jüdischen Allgemeine, he complained about the Vatican's refusal to recognize any errors in the face of the Nazi extermination of Jews. Kühlwein accuses Pope Pius of having pushed aside the question of conscience that the Shoah posed to him. Instead of prophetically and courageously standing in front of the Jews, he pursued purpose-oriented diplomacy with the aim of “not stepping on Berlin's feet”. Recognizing culpable failure with a plea for forgiveness could open the door to real reconciliation with Judaism.

Publications

Books

  • Pius XII. and the deportation of the Jews of Rome. Peter Lang Verlag, Berlin, Bern, Bruxelles, New York, Oxford, Warszawa, Vienna, 2019, ISBN 978-3-631-79284-1 .
  • The Dannecker list. When the Holocaust to Pius XII. came. Epubli, Berlin 2014, ISBN 978-3-8442-8935-0 (abridged and edited paperback edition of the 2nd edition of the study: Pius XII. And the raid on Jews in Rome. Berlin 2013).
  • Pius XII. and the raid on the Jews in Rome. Epubli, Berlin 2013, ISBN 978-3-8442-6284-1 (2nd, updated and expanded edition: Epubli, Berlin 2013, ISBN 978-3-8442-7035-8 ).
  • Why the Pope was silent. Pius XII. and the Holocaust. Patmos, Düsseldorf 2008, ISBN 978-3-491-72527-0 .
  • Creation without meaning? God and suffering. Patmos, Düsseldorf 2003, ISBN 3-491-77053-X .
  • Chaos Master Jesus. The Sermon on the Mount. Katholisches Bibelwerk, Stuttgart 1999, ISBN 3-460-33161-5 .
  • Family relationship and instructions on the Sermon on the Mount. Communicative action according to the antitheses and their meaning from the perspective of the Heidelberg family dynamic model. Peter Lang, Frankfurt / Bern / New York / Paris 1991, ISBN 3-631-44199-1 .

Articles / posts

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Josef Kirchengast: A cry for help that went unanswered , Der Standard , October 14, 2013.
  2. ↑ Andrea M. Jarach: And Pius remained silent. 70 years ago, more than 1,000 Jews were deported from Rome to Auschwitz , Jüdische Allgemeine , October 17, 2013, no.42.
  3. ↑ Ibid. and: Pius XII. and the raid on the Jews in Rome. P. 328 f. The Open Letter is used to treat the teaching of religion in schools advised (M. Torberg / Edit .: life make , teacher's book, Kath. Religious instruction in schools, Edition S, vol. 3, p 55, Klett Verlag, Stuttgart 2014).
  4. ↑ A serious mistake. Declaration on the expected beatification of Pius XII. ( Memento of December 2, 2013 in the Internet Archive ), December 20, 2009 (PDF; 38 kB).
  5. ↑ Klaus Kühlwein: A confession of guilt is overdue , in: Frankfurter Rundschau, April 15, 2015, (title in the features section of the print edition: Where are the tears? April 15, 2015, pp. 31–32.); ders .: The Vatican remains silent 70 years later , in: Jüdische Allgemeine, May 7, 2015, No. 19, p. 2.
  6. ↑ The Vatican remains silent 70 years later , in: Jüdische Allgemeine, ibid.
personal data
SURNAME Kühlwein, Klaus
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German Catholic theologian and book author
DATE OF BIRTH April 29, 1955
PLACE OF BIRTH Viernheim