Innitzer, Theodor.

Innitzer, Theodor, 25-12-1875, in Neugeschrei (Nové Zvolání) part of the town Weipert (Vejprty) in Bohemia, at that time Austria-Hungary, (now Czech Republic). Theodor was the son of a passementier Wilhelm Innitzer in Vejprty, later a textile factory worker, and his wife Maria born Seidl, daughter of a mining clerk. After completing the minimum mandatory school, Innitzer became an apprentice in a textile factory. The dean of his home parish supported young Theodor, thus paving the way for him to attend higher schools. His ecclesiastical career, 1898 he entered the seminary in Vienna, got his priestly ordination in 1902 and his doctorate in theology in 1906. From 1908 to 1911 he was privatdozent at the Universaty of Vienna. From 1911 to 1932 and (from 1913) chair for New Tetsament Exegesis. From 1928 to 1929 rector of the Universaty of Vienna. He from 1929 to 1930 he was the Minister of  Social Affairs in the third government of Chancellor Johann Schober and in 1932 consecrated archbishop of Vienna and in 1933 named a cardinal.Johan Schober was chief of police in Vienna between 1918 and 1932. When in July 1927 a veteran and a young boy marching in a parade of the social democratic militia Republikanischer Schutzbund were shot dead in Burgenland by demonstrating members of the national-conservative Heimwehr, an uprising broke out in Vienna. Interventions were carried out under Schober’s responsibility, resulting in 89 deaths and more than a thousand injuries. The intervention marked the resulting polarization in Austrian society.

Innitzer’s role in early 20th century Austrian history remains disputed because of his involvement in politics. Despite early support for the Anschluss, Innitzer became a critic of National Socialism and was subject to further violent intimidation.

This assessment stems from his cooperation with the Austro-fascist government of Engelbert Dollfuß

and Kurt Schuschnigg  from 1934 to 1938, which based many of its economic and social policies on the teachings of the Catholic Church. He and the other Austrian Catholic bishops signed a declaration endorsing the Anschluss, set up by Gauleiter Josef Bürckel, and signed by Innitzer with “Heil Hitler!”. Without the bishops’ consent, the Nazi regime disseminated this statement throughout the German Reich.

Vatican Radio had recently broadcast a vehement denunciation of the Nazi action, and Cardinal Pacelli (soon to become Pope Pius XII) ordered Innitzer to report to the Vatican. Before meeting with Pius XI, Innitzer met with Pacelli, who had been outraged by Innitzer’s statement. He made it clear that Innitzer needed to retract and was made to sign a new statement, issued on behalf of all the Austrian bishops, which asserted that “the solemn declaration of the Austrian bishops … was clearly not intended to be an approval of something that was not and is not compatible with God’s law.” The Vatican newspaper also reported that the bishops’ earlier statement had been issued without the approval of the Holy See.

Innitzer’s role in early 20th century Austrian history remains disputed because of his involvement in politics. Despite early support for the Anschluss, Innitzer became a critic of National Socialism and was subject to further violent intimidation.

Innitzer’s ambiguous relationship with the Nazi regime brought him a lot of criticism after World War II (he was referred to as the “Heil Hitler Cardinal”). During the war, Innitzer was critical of the anti-Semitic and racist policies of the Nazis towards the Austrian Jews and the Catholic gypsies of the Austrian countryside.

Innitzer openly, though moderately, supported the war effort against the Soviet Union, however. Years before, he had campaigned against Soviet policies. In 1933, based on data collected by undercover investigation and photographs, Innitzer sought to raise awareness in the West of the Holodomor and even cases of cannibalism that were occurring in Ukraine and the North Caucasus at that time.

In October 1944, Innitzer preached in the parish of Vienna-Reindorf, which also included members of the NSDAP local group who listened and wrote a report about it. They reported that Innitzer attributed the war to God directly; he saw it as a punishment for lukewarm participation in church life: children not receiving Communion, absolution in confession, or religious instruction at school. Seminaries were closing, and only one sixth of Catholics attended Holy Mass. The report understood this as indirect criticism of the National Socialist government, since their measures had suppressed the church’s influence.

Death and burial ground of Innitzer, Theodor.

Cardinal Innitzer died 09-10-1955 (age 79) in Vienna, Wien Stadt, Vienna, Austria.and is buried at the Saint Stephen’s Cathedral, Bischofsgruft, in Vienna, Wien Stadt, Vienna, Austria, 

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