Innitzer was born in Neugeschrei (Nové Zvolání), part of the town Weipert (Vejprty) in Bohemia, at that time Austria-Hungary, (now Czech Republic).

He was the son of a passementier Wilhelm Innitzer in Vejprty, later a textile factory worker, and his wife Maria born Seidl, daughter of a mining clerk.

The dean of his home parish supported young Theodor, thus paving the way for him to attend higher schools (Gymnasium) in Kaaden.

[3][4] This assessment stems from his cooperation with the Austro-fascist government of Engelbert Dollfuß and Kurt Schuschnigg from 1934 to 1938, which based many of its economic and social policies on the teachings of the Catholic Church.

In 1933, based on data collected by undercover investigation and photographs, Innitzer sought to raise awareness in the West of the Holodomor and even cases of cannibalism that were occurring in Ukraine and the North Caucasus at that time.

[7] In October 1944, Innitzer preached in the parish of Vienna-Reindorf, which also included members of the NSDAP local group who listened and wrote a report about it.

They reported that Innitzer attributed the war to God directly; he saw it as a punishment for lukewarm participation in church life: children not receiving Communion, absolution in confession, or religious instruction at school.