The German Church Crisis The conflict in the German Protestant
Church has reached the point of crisis with, the deposition and virtual imprisonment of the Bishops of Wiirttemberg and Bavaria, and the development of an organized 'opposition to the Reichsbishop on the part of Protestant pastors and their congregations throughout the Reich. The situation is without any modern precedent. In its essentials it recalls sonic of the scenes which marked the enforcement of the Act of Uniformity in this country. The battle is definitely joined, and its end is not in sight. If the Reichsbishop seizes the churches lie will have to provide some 800 new pastors for them, and his nominees will preach to empty pews. A defence fund is being .raised, and it is stated that both Roman Catholics and Nazis are among the contributors to it. The Foreign Minister, Baron von Neurath, is himself a Lutheran, and he is not the only Protestant in the Cabinet. In such political circles as they represent there is profound uneasiness, but the Reichsbishop and his henchman, Dr. "Jager, have now so identified themselves with the Nazi _Party and certain State departments that their surrender now would mean a rebuff to the regime.
