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)

本项目调查第二次世界大战后两个双边和解进程中宗教和政治因素的相互依存关系：德法和解和德波和解。它采用了以演员为中心的视角，以天主教为中心。为了实现这一主要目标，该项目追求三个部分目标：1)首先，该项目旨在审查主教们如何理解和解，以及他们如何将和解的神学思想应用于当代政治问题。2)其次，该项目打算调查主教们如何在和解的神学基础和他们对爱国国家的忠诚之间定位自己。在此基础上，可以评估主教在这两个和解进程中的不同(有时是模棱两可的)作用。3)第三，该项目旨在从比较的角度分析主教在这两个和解进程中的作用。通过这种方式，可以把握铁幕双方和解的宗教和政治因素的相互依存关系。对主教的关注是对这两个和解进程非常有希望的分析方法。通过对这一群体的调查，可以清楚地揭示出和解中宗教和政治因素的相互依赖，因为可以证明，这些教会代表一方面陷入了神学和解思想与他们融入特定政治、国家和社会环境之间的忠诚冲突。从德国(民主德国和联邦德国)、法国和波兰的主教处理共同的基督教和解思想的方式的区别和变化中，可以清楚地看出和解中宗教和政治因素的相互依存。因此，比较分析是本项目的主要分析方法。该项目基于法语、德语和波兰语的来源。这些资料来源分为三类：被分析国家的整个教区以及选定的主教发表的官方声明；未公布的档案材料(如会议记录、内部报告、信件)；与当代证人的访谈(口述历史)。关于学术状况，该项目有助于填补德法和解和德波和解研究中的两个空白。首先，没有对欧洲范围内的这两个和解进程进行比较分析，其次，到目前为止，还没有广泛研究宗教和政治因素在这些和解进程中的相互作用。此外，该项目的成果可能有助于制定解决冲突的战略，这与欧洲目前出现的紧张局势有关。

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.