Editing Joseph Goebbels (section)

===Church struggle===
{{See also|Nazi persecution of the Catholic Church in Germany}}
In 1933, Hitler signed the ''[[Reichskonkordat]]'' (Reich Concordat), a treaty with the Vatican that required the regime to honour the independence of Catholic institutions and prohibited clergy from involvement in politics.{{sfn|Evans|2005|pp=234–235}} However, the regime continued to target the Christian churches to weaken their influence. Throughout 1935 and 1936, hundreds of clergy and nuns were arrested, often on trumped up charges of currency smuggling or sexual offences.{{sfn|Thacker|2010|p=189}}{{sfn|Longerich|2015|p=382}} Goebbels widely publicised the trials in his propaganda campaigns, showing the cases in the worst possible light.{{sfn|Thacker|2010|p=189}} Restrictions were placed on public meetings, and Catholic publications faced censorship. Catholic schools were required to reduce religious instruction and crucifixes were removed from state buildings.{{sfn|Evans|2005|pp=239–240}}{{efn|name=crucifixes}} Hitler often vacillated on whether or not the ''[[Kirchenkampf]]'' (church struggle) should be a priority, but his frequent inflammatory comments on the issue were enough to convince Goebbels to intensify his work on the issue;{{sfn|Kershaw|2008|p=382}} in February 1937 he stated he wanted to eliminate the [[Protestant]] church.{{sfn|Longerich|2012|p=223}}

In response to the persecution, [[Pope Pius XI]] had the ''"[[Mit brennender Sorge]]"'' ("With Burning Concern") Encyclical smuggled into Germany for [[Passion Sunday]] 1937 and read from every pulpit. It denounced the systematic hostility of the regime toward the church.{{sfn|Shirer|1960|pp=234–235}}{{sfn|Evans|2005|pp=241–243}} In response, Goebbels renewed the regime's crackdown and propaganda against Catholics.{{sfn|Evans|2005|p=244}} His speech of 28 May in Berlin in front of 20,000 party members, which was also broadcast on the radio, attacked the Catholic church as morally corrupt. As a result of the propaganda campaign, enrolment in denominational schools dropped sharply, and by 1939 all such schools were disbanded or converted to public facilities. Harassment and threats of imprisonment led the clergy to be much more cautious in their criticism of the regime.{{sfn|Evans|2005|pp=245–247}} Partly out of foreign policy concerns, Hitler ordered a scaling back of the church struggle by the end of July 1937.{{sfn|Longerich|2015|p=334}}