Reichskonkordat
On 7 April, directly after the third meeting of the working committee, Kaas once more left Berlin and headed for Rome. The next day, after having changed trains in Munich, the Prelate happened to meet Vice-Chancellor Papen in the dining car. Papen officially went on skiing holidays to Italy, but his real destination was Vatican City, where he was to offer a Reichskonkordat on his government's behalf. Kaas and Papen traveled on together and had some discussions about the matter on the train. After their arrival in Rome, Kaas was received first by Pacelli on 9 April. One day later, Papen had a morning meeting with Pacelli and presented Hitler's offer. Cardinal Pacelli subsequently authorized Kaas, who was known for his expertise in Church-state relations, to negotiate the draft of the terms with Papen.
These discussions also prolonged his stay in Rome and raised questions in Germany as to a conflict of interest, since as a German parliamentarian he was advising the Vatican. On 5 May Kaas resigned from his post as party chairman, and pressure from the German government forced him to withdraw from visibly participating in the concordat negotiations. Though allegedly the Vatican tried to hold back the exclusion of Catholic clergy and organisations from politics, Pacelli was known to strongly favour the withdrawal of all priests from active politics, which is Church position in all countries even today. In the end, the Vatican accepted the restriction to the religious and charitable field. Even before the Roman negotiations had been concluded, the Centre Party yielded to increasing government pressure and dissolved itself, thus excluding German Catholics from participating in political life.
It is alleged that Pius XI favored Hitler as a "bulwark against Communism" and because of this signed the Reichskonkordat, through which Hitler gained international respectability. Relevant documents have only been made available by the Vatican since 2003, yet there is as of now no evidence to this. On the other hand it has been argued that the Pope stood before the alternative of either signing a concordat or undergoing another Kulturkampf by not giving the Catholics a legal basis to defend themselves. Later on, the concordat was the basis for formal complaints about the Third Reich's measures against the Church.
Kaas and Pacelli, "on account of the exclusion of Catholics as a political party from the public life of Germany, found it all the more necessary that the Holy See assure government guarantees to maintain their position in the life of the nation" Hitler, had from the beginning no other aim, than a war of extermination of the Church Pacelli, now Pope Pius XII, met the German Cardinals March 6, 1939, three days after his election. He referred to the constant Nazi attacks against the Church, and the Nazi responses to his protests: They always responded, "sorry, but we cannot act because the concordat is not legally binding yet". But after its ratification, things did not get any better, they got worse. The experiences of the past years are not encouraging. Despite this, the Holy See continued diplomatic relations with Germany in order to "connect to the bishops and faithful in Germany". The Church had received from the Concordat more teachers, more school buildings and more places for Catholic pupils. At the same time it was well known to Pacelli and Pope Pius XI that the Jews were being treated very differently. The Centre party's vote for the Enabling Act, at Kaas's urging, was a vote which fostered the establishment of the Hitlerian tyranny.
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