The Church with the people

A snapshot of the Church in contemporary Hungary is offered by Cardinal Péter Erdö, archbishop of Esztergom-Budapest, primate of Hungary, CCEE President, interviewed by SIR Europe.Hungary is a post-Communist country. More than twenty years have passed since the fall of the totalitarian regime. How has the situation of the Catholic Church changed since then? “With the change in the political system multiple institutional possibilities unfolded for the Church. Firstly, religious orders that had been previously banned – except for four congregations – were reinstated. Then we had the possibility, indeed the duty, to reopen some of our schools, which belonged to the Church prior to the nationalization process. Thus gradually a national network of Catholic schools was created, which now account for 6-7% of all schools. Despite our initial fears, there is a serious approach marked by Christian-Catholic inspiration owing to which the parents gladly make this option for their children. We had the possibility to develop also higher education, thus the Catholic University was set up. Along with the ancient faculty of theology we founded several other departments: law, humanistic sciences, information technology, pedagogy, canon law”.As regards communication…? “There is greater freedom also as relates to social communications: on the press, the radio, and on television. In public communication media there are several religious programs where we can propose religious content. We also have our own means, but they are not very strong owing to limited economic resources. Under this aspect, the Hungarian Church is very weak”.What are the priorities of the Hungarian Bishops’ Conference for the future? “Unfortunately we have neither the means nor the possibility to plan what we would like to accomplish. Priorities are determined by circumstances. When societies age, as in Hungary, and there’s a demographic drop, it means we have to pay greater attention to the family. So this year we have dedicated our efforts to the family through a set of actions, with congresses and publications. Last year a package of regulations in support of the family were adopted. But the demographic change isn’t evident, also because people are indebted and they live in a climate of extreme working precariousness. We have to provide consolation, and we also have to encourage people, reinforce the family, take care of the sick, of the elderly, dedicate our attention to the weak social brackets, heavily hit by the changes: these are the priorities dictated by the present circumstances. Obviously there is also the mission to proclaim the Good News to the whole world, and this is true also today, in Europe and in Hungary alike”.In the last census, conducted ten years ago, 55% of all Hungarians identified themselves as Catholic. What are the expectations for the October census? “Last time the question was: ‘Which Church or religion do you belong to?’ This time the question is: ‘What is your religion according to your sentiment?’, it’s a more subjective approach. There is no list to tick and no limitation. We carried out an advertising campaign to invite people to declare their Catholic faith. And we hope the respondents’ answer will confirm their Catholic belonging, although this time the wording is more subjective, and less explicit. Indeed, a disinformation campaign has been launched over the web, seeking to confuse the public opinion and spread another concept of Catholic or of religious belonging”. What is the role of the Catholic Church in Hungary and its influence in society and in politics? “Almost all Churches, including the Catholic Church, have a modest role in public life, also since they are not strong economically and at the level of mass media. However, we have a mission to express our faith within all human realities. For this reason we published several circular letters, as a Bishops’ Conference, on ethical questions, a series of documents on social justice, on bioethics, on the environment, against euthanasia, in defense of the dignity of human life from the moment of conception to its natural termination. Furthermore, each year, on the occasion of the Feast of Saint Elisabeth (November 18), we write a letter on poverty or on social questions, inviting people to act with generosity”. There is much talk on the new law on the Churches which, starting next January, will reduce the number of registered Churches, from several hundreds to 14. There have been complaints on the part of the institutions, that lamented restraints to religious freedom. What do you think of this new regulation? “The law introduced this year resembles the previous one adopted in 1990, notably as relates to the definition of religious freedom and the guarantees to the Churches. The registration follows a certain logic. One of the changes introduced at the last minute in the formulation is that religious communities, and the Churches, must be registered not at the court but at the responsible ministry. I don’t see it as a major change. Technically speaking it’s important, but still it’s just a registration, not the permission for its activity. When the law was introduced in 1990 there were fourteen recognized Churches, registered at public institutions already at the end of the Communist period. They were all registered automatically, but even the new ones could request a registration at the tribunal, provided they had as many as 100 founding members. For this, some very small communities, perhaps from abroad, considered it a limitation of their liberty, since they couldn’t be registered like the others. The question was examined by the Constitutional Court of the Republic and the answer was that their religious freedom is still guaranteed, even without their registration as a special category. If they wish they can register themselves and gain legal status as an association, or else they can perform their services even without this legal status within the legal system of the State. Thus the legislator has not violated religious freedom permitting the registration just of those communities with over 100 members. Naturally, there were possibilities for public financing and for contributions to public utility institutions run by the Church, such as old-age homes. This is why there have been groups of entrepreneurs who founded churches to access this financial support, and it seems that there have also been some abuses. Naturally, also many communities which currently don’t figure among the fourteen churches that were registered ex ufficio , can be registered in the new list, but the process is more complex: it is necessary to file a request that must undergo parliament debate for the final decision. We think that many of these religious groups and the Church that have registered to date will ask the Parliament to be inserted in the list, which brings some advantages in support of their institutions”.What is the state of ecumenical relations with the other Christian Churches? “We have very good relations with Orthodox churches and with other Christian communities, and most of all, with the so-called ‘historical’ Protestant Churches, like the Calvinist and the Lutheran Churches. There are also Protestant communities with very few faithful in Hungary, which perhaps had relations with the Hungarian culture on a territory that extended beyond the current borders. We have a regular dialogue and we cooperate in social and juridical matters. In January the ecumenical week will take place. On that occasion we will pray together for Christians’ unity and we invite the pastors of the other communities to share the proclamation of the Word of God. We also have a system of reception for the pupils of other confessions in our schools and viceversa, according to a tradition that was ongoing even before the war broke out in this Country. Students of another confession are not compelled to attend Catholic religion classes in our schools, but we assure them that their teacher of religion is appointed by a religious leader. This is important in solidarity. There are also other communities, like the Bill Graham Foundation, which promotes important prayer gatherings. There are ongoing relations also with the Baptist and other neo-Protestant communities. Some items in these encounters deserve special mention, notably the courage to bear witness to Jesus. We are all committed in this. Jesus Christ cannot be fully encountered in an abstract manner, but only through the Church”.