Note 544 — V. EVIDENCE CONCERNING PRINCIPAL ISSUES IN THE CASE (continued 14)

The reference is to Article 130a of the Reich Penal Code, which was inserted into the Code by the Law of 26 February 1876: “Imprudent Discussion of State Affairs by Ministers of Religion (Kanzelmissbrauch). 130a. A clergyman or other minister of religion who in the exercise of his calling or on the occasion of such exercise makes affairs of state a subject of his announcement or discussion in a manner endangering public peace either before a crowd or before several people assembled in a church or other place assigned for religious meetings, shall be punished by imprisonment or confinement in a fortress not to exceed 2 years. A similar punishment shall be imposed upon a clergyman or minister of religion who, in the exercise of his calling or on the occasion of such exercise, issues or distributes writings in which affairs of state are made the subject of announcement or discussion in a manner endangering public peace.”