Carl Maria Splett
Encyclopedia
Carl Maria Splett was a German
Germans
The Germans are a Germanic ethnic group native to Central Europe. The English term Germans has referred to the German-speaking population of the Holy Roman Empire since the Late Middle Ages....

 Roman Catholic priest and Bishop of Danzig, after World War II he was imprisoned in Poland and exiled in West Germany
West Germany
West Germany is the common English, but not official, name for the Federal Republic of Germany or FRG in the period between its creation in May 1949 to German reunification on 3 October 1990....

.

Early life

Splett was born in Zoppot (Sopot) to the teacher and later Vice-president of the Free City of Danzig
Free City of Danzig
The Free City of Danzig was a semi-autonomous city-state that existed between 1920 and 1939, consisting of the Baltic Sea port of Danzig and surrounding areas....

's Parliament (Volkstag
Volkstag
The Volkstag was the parliament of the Free City of Danzig between 1919 and 1939.-History:After World War I Danzig became a Free City under the protection of the League of Nations....

), Franz Splett. He visited school in Konitz (Chojnice), Neustadt
Wejherowo
Wejherowo is a town in Gdańsk Pomerania, northern Poland, with 47,435 inhabitants . It has been the capital of Wejherowo County in Pomeranian Voivodeship since 1999; previously, it was a town in Gdańsk Voivodeship .-History:...

 (Wejherowo) and Danzig (Gdańsk), where he passed his Abitur
Abitur
Abitur is a designation used in Germany, Finland and Estonia for final exams that pupils take at the end of their secondary education, usually after 12 or 13 years of schooling, see also for Germany Abitur after twelve years.The Zeugnis der Allgemeinen Hochschulreife, often referred to as...

 in 1917. Splett studied Theology
Theology
Theology is the systematic and rational study of religion and its influences and of the nature of religious truths, or the learned profession acquired by completing specialized training in religious studies, usually at a university or school of divinity or seminary.-Definition:Augustine of Hippo...

 and Philosophy
Philosophy
Philosophy is the study of general and fundamental problems, such as those connected with existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language. Philosophy is distinguished from other ways of addressing such problems by its critical, generally systematic approach and its reliance on rational...

 at the Seminary
Seminary
A seminary, theological college, or divinity school is an institution of secondary or post-secondary education for educating students in theology, generally to prepare them for ordination as clergy or for other ministry...

 of the Diocese of Kulm in Pelplin
Pelplin
Pelplin is a small town in Tczew County, Pomeranian Voivodship, Poland. Population: 9,993 . The former Pelplin Abbey is the seat of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Pelplin, and the abbey church is now Pelpin Cathedral.It is located at around ....

, where he also learned Polish. He was ordained on 10 July 1921 and after graduating at Pelplin, he was sent to Rome for further studies, especially in Canon law
Canon law
Canon law is the body of laws & regulations made or adopted by ecclesiastical authority, for the government of the Christian organization and its members. It is the internal ecclesiastical law governing the Catholic Church , the Eastern and Oriental Orthodox churches, and the Anglican Communion of...

, and practiced at the Sacra Rota Romana
Sacra Rota Romana
The Tribunal Apostolicum Rotae Romanae — also called the Sacred Roman Rota, and anciently the Apostolic Court of Audience — is the highest appellate tribunal of the Roman Catholic Church, with respect to both Latin-rite members and the eastern-rite members and is, with respect to judicial trials...

.

Splett returned to Danzig in 1924 and became a vicar at several congregations within the then Apostolic Administration of Danzig (elevated to diocese in 1925), he further promoted to cathedral capitular of Oliva
Oliwa
Oliwa, also Oliva is one of the quarters of Gdańsk. From east it borders Przymorze and Żabianka, from the north Sopot and from the south with the districts of Strzyża, VII Dwór and Brętowo, while from the west with Matarnia and Osowa...

 in 1935.

He succeeded Edward O'Rourke
Edward O'Rourke
Edward O'Rourke, full name Eduard Alexander Ladislaus Graf O'Rourke was a Roman Catholic priest, bishop of Riga and the first head of the bishopric of the Free City of Danzig .-Early life:...

 as the head of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Danzig (Gdańsk) in 1938. While the Nazis, who ruled the Free State of Danzig since 1933, tried to install their own candidate, Paul Schütz, as successor of Bishop O'Rourke, Splett was appointed as Bishop by the Pope. Splett also refused to appoint a vicar general as Schütz was again demanded by the local Nazis.

Splett held the position as Bishop of Danzig also after the German annexation of the Free City during World War II. He was known for his friendly attitude towards Poles, but he also collaborated with the Nazi government. After the Invasion of Poland seven out of twelve Polish and four German Priests of his diocese were murdered, several parishes were disseized and after Splett initially refused to prohibit the usage of Polish in his diocese another six Priests were arrested by the Gestapo
Gestapo
The Gestapo was the official secret police of Nazi Germany. Beginning on 20 April 1934, it was under the administration of the SS leader Heinrich Himmler in his position as Chief of German Police...

, which forced him to ban the usage of Polish in his Diocese in April/May 1940.

World War II

Splett was appointed the Apostolic Administrator of the Diocese of Culm by Pope Pius XII on 6 December 1939. Polish historians accused Splett of being too close to the Nazi regime, they noted he had close relations to Nazi Albert Forster
Albert Forster
Albert Maria Forster was a Nazi German politician. Under his administration as the Gauleiter of Danzig-West Prussia during the Second World War, the local non-German population suffered ethnic cleansing, mass murder, and forceful Germanisation...

 (who praised Splett's work for Germany). Splett replaced Polish clergy with German one fait, introducing 200 German priests into Chełmno diocese where he took office from December 1939. Under his reign Polish priesthood was oppressed and prayers and masses under his direction praised Hitler. He also issued a ban against use of Polish language in churches. When he banned confessions in Polish in May 1940 Vatican intervened and ordered that the ban be lifted. Not only did Splett defend his ban, he argued it was to “protect” people making the confessions. After this argument he tried to claim that confessions in Polish are used for “nationalistic means”. Eventually Vatican
Holy See
The Holy See is the episcopal jurisdiction of the Catholic Church in Rome, in which its Bishop is commonly known as the Pope. It is the preeminent episcopal see of the Catholic Church, forming the central government of the Church. As such, diplomatically, and in other spheres the Holy See acts and...

 accepted his explanation. Besides banning Polish language, Splett ordered removal of Polish signs and names in graveyards from monuments and graves and in all churches under his jurisdiction.

Despite officially banning the Polish language, Splett unofficially supported priests who continued to use Polish language. He also supported some Polish refugees hiding from the Nazis, and provided financial aid to the families of priests arrested and killed by the Nazis.

Post World War II

He remained in Danzig after the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....

 occupied the city in March 1945 and was arrested by the Red Army
Red Army
The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army started out as the Soviet Union's revolutionary communist combat groups during the Russian Civil War of 1918-1922. It grew into the national army of the Soviet Union. By the 1930s the Red Army was among the largest armies in history.The "Red Army" name refers to...

 on 25 March 1945, but soon released. He continued administering to the remaining Danzig inhabitants, who had not escaped the Communist take-over, as well as the newly arriving Polish people. In the beginning of August 1945 Polish Cardinal August Hlond requested Splett to resign from his position, which Splett refused to do. On 9 August Splett was arrested by Polish officials and put on trial for collaboration and oppression of the Polish People. Throughout custody Hlond pretended Pope Pius XII had disbanded Splett, which was not the case. He was sentenced to eight years in prison on 1 February 1946 and imprisoned at Wronki Prison
Wronki Prison
Wronki Prison is the largest prison in Poland, holding over 1400 prisoners. It was founded in 1889 in the town of Wronki in Greater Poland .-History:...

. After his release from prison, Splett was kept under domiciliary arrest at Stary Borek in Southern Poland and at the monastery of Dukla
Dukla
Dukla ; , Duklya] is a town and an eponymous municipality in southeastern Poland, in the Subcarpathian Voivodship. The town is populated by 2,127 people . while the total population of the commune containing the town and the villages surrounding it is 16,640...

.

In 1956, after protests from West Germany
West Germany
West Germany is the common English, but not official, name for the Federal Republic of Germany or FRG in the period between its creation in May 1949 to German reunification on 3 October 1990....

 and by the Polish Primas cardinal Stefan Wyszynski, the new Polish government allowed his emigration to West Germany. He remained official Bishop of Danzig until his death in 1964 and was active in the pastoral care for the expelled population of Danzig
Expulsion of Germans after World War II
The later stages of World War II, and the period after the end of that war, saw the forced migration of millions of German nationals and ethnic Germans from various European states and territories, mostly into the areas which would become post-war Germany and post-war Austria...

. He played also an active role in the improvement of the German-Polish relations throughout the Second Vatican Council
Second Vatican Council
The Second Vatican Council addressed relations between the Roman Catholic Church and the modern world. It was the twenty-first Ecumenical Council of the Catholic Church and the second to be held at St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican. It opened under Pope John XXIII on 11 October 1962 and closed...

.

The administrative position of the bishop of Gdańsk was held by lesser church officials. He was succeed by Edmund Nowicki, his coadjutor bishop
Coadjutor bishop
A coadjutor bishop is a bishop in the Roman Catholic or Anglican churches who is designated to assist the diocesan bishop in the administration of the diocese, almost as co-bishop of the diocese...

 since 1956.

Splett died in Düsseldorf
Düsseldorf
Düsseldorf is the capital city of the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and centre of the Rhine-Ruhr metropolitan region.Düsseldorf is an important international business and financial centre and renowned for its fashion and trade fairs. Located centrally within the European Megalopolis, the...

.

External links

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