Between Theological Positions and National-Political Interests. Catholic Bishops as Actors in the German-French and German-Polish Reconciliation after World War II (1945-1990)

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This project investigates the interdependence of religious and political factors in two bilateral reconciliation processes after World War II: the German-French and the German-Polish. It employs an actors-focused perspective which centers on Catholic bishops. In order to achieve this main objective, the project pursues three partial objectives: 1) First, the project aims to examine how bishops understood reconciliation and how they applied the theological idea of reconciliation to contemporary political issues. 2) Second, the project intends to investigate how bishops positioned themselves between the theological underpinnings of reconciliation on the one hand and their patriotic-national loyalties on the other. On this basis, the diverse (and sometimes ambiguous) role of the bishops in both reconciliation processes can be assessed. 3) Third, the project aims to analyze the role of the bishops in both reconciliation processes in a comparative perspective. In this way, the interdependence of religious and political factors of reconciliation on both sides of the Iron Curtain can be grasped. The focus on bishops is a very promising analytical approach to both reconciliation processes. Through investigation of this group, the interdependence of religious and political factors in reconciliation can be clearly exposed, as it can be demonstrated that these Church representatives were caught in loyalty conflicts between the theological idea of reconciliation on the one hand, and their integration into a particular political, national and societal environment on the other. The interdependence of religious and political factors in reconciliation are clearly visible in the distinctions and alterations in the way that bishops in Germany (GDR and FRG), France and Poland dealt with the common Christian idea of reconciliation. Therefore, a comparative analysis is the main analytical approach of the project. The project is based on sources in French, German, and Polish. These sources are divided in three categories: published official statements by the entire episcopates of the analyzed countries as well as by selected individual bishops; unpublished archival material (e.g. minutes of meetings, internal reports, correspondence); and interviews with contemporary witnesses (oral history). With regards to the state of scholarship, the project helps fill two gaps in the research on German-French and German-Polish reconciliation. First, there has been no comparative analysis of both reconciliation processes in the European context, and, second, there has been no extensive study of the interplay of religious and political factors in these reconciliation processes until now. In addition, the results of the project may contribute to the development of strategies of conflict resolution, which is relevant to the tensions currently appearing in Europe.