DIBELIUS, OTTO

(1880-1967)

Protestant* minister; superintendent of the Prussian Evangelical Church. Born in Berlin,* he took a doctorate in 1902, obtained a license in theology in 1906, and then held various pastorates for two decades. Among a distinguished group of church leaders, he was stunned by the November Revolution*; yet he viewed it as an opportunity for theEvangel-ischekircheto renew itself without government interference. He was chosen to lead the Prussian Church in 1925. His widely proclaimed program of 1926,Das Jahrhundert der Kirche(The century of the church), called for neutrality vis-à-vis the Republic. He consistently grounded his leadership in unequivocal Chris-tian principles.

A traditional conservative, Dibelius briefly welcomed Hitler's* regime as a chance for conservative renewal; he was soon disillusioned. Although he led the 21 March 1933 service at which Hitler humbled himself before President Hin-denburg* in the Potsdam Garrison Church, he was forced into retirement in June and soon stood with Germany's Confessing Church. In June 1937, after de-nouncing attempts to dictate faith by state decree, he was arrested and tried. Acquitted by judges still capable of displaying some independence, he survived World War II and, with Karl Barth* and Martin Niemoller, issued the Decla-ration of Guilt at the October 1945 Stuttgart conference of the World Council of Churches.