Kriegsmoral und Konfession. Perspektiven auf die katholische Feldpastoral Österreich-Ungarns im Ersten Weltkrieg im internationalen Kontext

Within the framework of a moral theory of warfare, religion per se may well have a war morale promoting function in wars. Whether and to what extent this was the case in a given war can, of course, only be said on a case-by-case basis. A case report is presented here for the pastoral care of Austro-Hungarian troops during the First World War. In order to be able to identify both the specific and the general of the individual case, the field pastoral of other belligerent powers of the Great War is also taken into account. In comparison, the number of the Austro-Hungarian field chaplains was not as exceptional as is often assumed. Likewise the role of religion as a medium to embolden and reassure soldiers was shared in different belligerent nations. What mattered for the efficiency of pastoral care in war was that Austro-Hungarian leaders, a great number of their officers, and the troops believed in the ability of the chaplains to motivate the troops. However, this depended to a high degree on the consolatory and even dissociating aspects of catholic faith and practice