The defeat of Nazism was a joint affair involving many nations. The control of what was to constitute post-war Germany was to be a self-imposed task of the four major powers. As has been noted, each of those nations, France, Great Britain, the Soviet Union, and the United States, was to have its own allotted zone. In that zone it would have a degree of freedom of action. Each nation had its own approach to priorities and methods of operation. There was, though, an intention to move towards the creation of a new German state. As a result, there was an understanding that collective decisions by the four powers were also needed to help form the rules by which any such new state would be governed. The principal mechanism was to be an Allied Control Authority. Located in Berlin it was anticipated that it would handle matters that dealt with the whole country as well as arbitrating on differences between the individual allies. To achieve uniformity required discussions between the powers. These discussions needed to be formalised if they were to bring about agreement. So, a system of inter-allied committees within the Allied Control Authority was created. Amongst these, as part of the Internal Affairs and Communications Directorate (DIA & C), an Allied Religious Affairs Committee (ARAC) was brought into being. It was to be one of nine committees within the Directorate alongside others dealing with Health, Education, Nutrition, Intelligence, Public Safety, Post and Communications, Civil Administration, and a Committee of Deputies. Some of the committees had a series of formal sub-committees. ARAC was given the power to form working parties but never had a sub-committee dealing with any aspect of its work. The DIA & C was the largest Directorate, in terms of the number of sub-divisions, within the Allied Control Authority. Religious Affairs was not the most significant of its Divisions.

Each of the four powers eventually handled religious matters in their own zone in a different way. There had been an attempt to create a unified policy before the Control Commission came into operation in Germany. An attempt had been made to put together what was entitled ‘Directive No. 12: Religious Affairs’.