Alfred Delp and the “Third Way”: the Munich Jesuit Contribution to Political and Spiritual Resistance in Nazi Germany

Abstract

Alfred Delp and the “Third Way:” The Munich Jesuit Contribution to Political and Spiritual Resistance in Nazi Germany examines how Jesuit priest Alfred Delp’s theological and uniquely Jesuit formation shaped his resistance to Nazism, arguing that his opposition was as moral and intellectual as it was political. Deeply influenced by Catholic social theory, Delp developed a “Third Way,” an alternative to both capitalism and Soviet Marxism, grounded in natural law, subsidiarity, solidarity, and the inviolable dignity of the human person. Delp’s work on the Third Way was the result of several years of study, culminating with his participation in the discussions of the Kreisau Circle, a group dedicated to creating a society based on Christian principles after the fall of the Nazi regime. Delp’s Christian vision for a world without Nazism, Jesuit identity, and ties—albeit indirect—to the 1944 plot to assassinate Hitler ultimately led to his execution in early 1945. This paper situates Delp within the unique context of Munich, one of Germany’s most Catholic cities and the birthplace of the Nazi Party. Alongside fellow Jesuits Augustin Rösch, his superior, and Lothar König, Delp built a vast network fostering a wide-reaching network of connections across Catholic and Protestant lines, culminating in his participation in the Kreisau Circle in 1942. By examining Delp within this Munich context, his resistance emerges in contrast to the cautious approach of Cardinal Michael von Faulhaber, revealing the distinctive moral, intellectual, and political contributions of Delp and the Munich Jesuits to broader German resistance.