Bodelschwingh’s Announcement at His Resignation

After a state commissioner had been appointed for the Prussian regional church, Friedrich von Bodelschwingh felt compelled to resign from the office of Reich Bishop after just thirty days. In keeping with his nature, he was very reserved in his comments on the circumstances and reasons for his resignation in his statement on the occasion of his resignation. Nevertheless, it becomes clear that he strictly rejected a politicization of the church and its confession of faith as well as the use of “instruments of political power” in the ecclesiastical sphere and that he thus clearly opposed the ecclesio-political aims and measures of the National Socialists as well as the German Christians. Remarkably, Bodelschwingh indicated that, rather than withdrawing completely, he intended to continue to fight for the church’s freedom.