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BOX-FOLDER-REPORT: 30-2-163
TITLE:             Position of the Roman Catholic Church in Hungary Since the Revolution
BY:                
DATE:              1957-9-9
COUNTRY:           Hungary
ORIGINAL SUBJECT:  (Hungar. Research)
THEMATIC SUBJECTS: Hungary--1956-1965, Religion, Church and State

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"E" DISTRIBUTION - 290
9 SEPTEMBER 1957

RFE NEWS AND INFORMATION SERVICE - EVALUATION AND RESEARCH SECTION

Background Report
(Hungar. Research)

POSITION Off THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH IN HUNGARY SINCE THE
REVOLUTION

General Introduction

The October revolution demanded among other things complete
religious freedom for the Roman Catholic Church. This, however,
was only partly realized because of the Russian intervention
of November 4.

The revolution freed Cardinal Jozsef MINDSZENTY and many
hundreds of innocent clerics who had been imprisoned. Civilian
government representatives vanished from the bishopric offices.
The Cardinal liquidated the "peace priest" movement and inflicted
ecclesiastical punishment on the "peace priests". All over
the country Catholic parents demanded the introduction of religious
instruction in schools and many subsequently registered their
children for this.

But the freedom achieved did not last long. As the power
of the KADAR government increased it took one step after another to
suspend the revolutionary achievements of the Catholic Church.

Attacks on the Cardinal


At the end of November 1956, the State Office for Church
Affairs published through Radio BUDAPEST a statement that the
23 October 1956 conditions were valid for relations between
Church and State. The announcement said:

The State Office for Church Affairs informs the public
that the worker-peasant government, according to the
constitution of the People's Republic, stands on the
basis of free religious worship, it ensures henceforth
facultative religious instruction in schools and holds
as binding the agreement concluded with the Churches
according to the 23 October 1956 conditions.

It wishes to settle questions arising between the State
and Churches in the future too by negotiations and
agreements.

(Hungarian Monitoring, 27 November 1956)

After this publication of the State Office for Church
Affairs comparative calm followed. It has only February 1957
that the KADAR government felt itself strong enough to continue
the attacks against the Church. These were aimed in the first place
against Cardinal MINDSZENTY and sought to prove his "counter-

Hungarian Research Background Report, 9 Sept 1957, page 2

-revolutionary" character.

MINDSZENTY did not serve the true national interests of
the Hungarian people but found common cause with the
interests of international imperialism and tried to help
the realization of plans which, if successful, would have
plunged the country into catastrophe.

("Nepszabadsag" 30 January 1957)

After attacks lasting for a whole month, the government
thought the time ripe to place the person of Cardinal MINDSZENTY
beyond the law.

On 4 November 1956 MINDSZENTY entered the building of
the BUDAPEST US Legation, where he still is, therefore
he resides extra-territorially. Jozsef MINDSZENTY is
under legal sentence and at the same time took a stand 
with the counter-revolution in his radio speech made on
November 3, incited against the people's democratic
order although he has no right whatever to take measures
in questions regarding the State and the Catholic Church.
In spite of this he issued on November 5, 6 and on
subsequent dates from the American Legation decrees in
which he removed ecclesiastical persons of progressive and
democratic views from their public activities and expelled
them from the territory of BUDAPEST. These decrees are
of a positive political character, striking at the leaders
of a progressive movement, the peace movement of the
Catholic clergy. These decrees are in opposition to the
agreement concluded between the State and the Catholic
Church and the position taken by the Bench of Bishops,
expounded in various declaration and infringing the laws
of the State.

In consequence, Jozsef MINDSZENTY is no longer allowed
to carry out Church functions in Hungary. Therefore,
according to the standpoint of the government, the carrying
out of MINDSZENTY's orders is considered as an act contrary
to the law.

(Hungarian Monitoring, 9 March 1957)

Simultaneous with the attacks aimed at the Cardinal, the
government "took under its protection the "peace priests" affected
by ecclesiastic punishment.
Those priests who have been relieved of their offices
because of their progressive views are taken under the
protection of the State Office for Church Affairs which
wishes to solve their problems.

("Esti Hirlap" 24 February 1957)

Hungarian Research Background Report, 9 Sept 1957, page 3

Religious Instruction in Schools

The government also started a campaign to cut religious
instruction down to its pre-revolutionary framework. 
"Nepszabadsag" reported from a "Party day" held at TATABANYA:

Women from TATABANYA sharply attacked events taking place
in connection with religious instruction. Some people
interfere inexcusably with those children whose parents
did not enter them for religious instruction.

(Nepszabadsag", 20 January 1957)

In fact, the BUDAPEST dailies attacked Gyula KISS, Deputy
Minister of Education, because he signed an instruction assuring
schoolchildren the chance to attend religious instruction.

("Nepakarat" 26 January 1951)

However, the attack on religious instruction created
such chaos that the government was compelled to make new regulations.

According to decree 21/1957 (III.24) religious instruction
is not compulsory in schools. In fact, the full force of the
law was to be applied against those who used religious instruction
for political purposes aimed against the Hungarian People's
Republic, its economic or social order. ("Magyar Kozlony" 24
March 1957.)

After this, the Minister of Public Education hastened
to regulate religious instruction in schools by a new directive.
("Esti Hirlap" 22 May 1957.)

These decrees, although assuring the facultative character
of religious instruction, re-established the pre-23 October 1956
situation, when the local Party organizations did everything in
their power to impede religious instruction.

Naturally these instructions were insufficient to disperse the
chaos which had arisen over religious instruction. The pressure of
public opinion forced the goverment to introduce some kind of moral
instruction Abased on Communist principles" within the framework' of
classes held by the formmasters.

The "Peace Priests"

Before 23 October 1956, the goverment was much helped in its
fight against the Church by the "peace priests" who held different
ecclesiastical positions. When Cardinal MINDSZENTY purged these 
position of priests who co-operated with the Communist Party, the 
revolutionary worker-peasant governement was forced to seek further 
possibilities of placing in leading ecclesiastical positions priests who 
sympathized with the Party. For this reason, the government re-introduced

Hungarian Research Background Report, 9 Sept 1957, page 4

the right of patronage, excercized by heads of the Hungarian
Government for centuries, but renounced in the constitution of
the People's Republic in 1946.

It is necessary for the enforcement of State sovereignty
in the questione of ecclesiastical appointments to assure
State interests. Therefore the Presidential Council of
the People's Republic calls into being the following
decree of legal force. (Statutory Regulation No.22,1957.)
Within the territory of the Hungarian People's Republic
all appointments for Roman Catholic ecclesiastic positions
and titles and those appointments which, according to Church
laws, belong to the sphere of authority of the Pope, in
addition to permission to act in those capacities must be
previously approved by the Presidential Council of the 
People's Republic. This rule must also be applied in the
case of removals and transfers.

("Magyar Kozlony", 24 March 1957.)

Negotiations on settling questions of State and Church
started at the beginning of the year between the Hungarian Bench
of Bishops and government representatives. The government 
representatives tried to force the Bench of Bishops to make a statement
condemning the October revolution. The statement of the Bench of
Bishops, however, only "supports the Hungarian Government's 
endeavor to secure the welfare of the people and to further peace in
our country and in the world." ("Nepszabadsag", 11 April 1957.)
During the negotiations the possibility of the revival of
the Catholic peace movement was also raised. When there was no
other way out, the Hungarian Bench of Bishops passed a resolution
on the Roman Catholic Church's participation in the peace movement.

Following the instructions of Christ's terrestrial 
representative - here we mean in the first place the 
instructions given in the Pope's Easter Message - we take a stand,
at the dawn of the atomic era, for the sparing and saving
of mankind. We urge especially that the responsible leaders
of the large nations and the UN intervene for the final
elimination and effectual ban of weapons causing 
mass-destruction and final annihilation of mankind.
             

("Nepszabadsag", 24 May 1957.)

Hungarian Research Background Report, 9 Sept 1957, page 5

To carry out general peace tasks and ecclesiastical peace
work the Bench of Bishops, jointly with the National Peace Council,
formed the Catholic Committee of the National Peace Council, the
"Opus Pacis". By the creation of the Opus Pacis, the Hungarian
Bench of Bishops took into its own hands the direction of the peace
movement which is a safeguard that the organization will not carry
out activities contrary to the teachings of the Catholic Church.
It also makes it possible for Catholics to join this ecclesiastic
peace movement instead of the peace movement of the goverment.

After the statement of the Bench of Bishops the National
Peace Committee of Catholic Priests announced that it was joining
forces with Opus Pacis. ("Nepszabadsag", 7 June 1957.)

The Opus Pacis movement was not condemned officially by
the Vatican, but the latter noted that the Hungarian Bench of
Bishops did not create this Catholic peace movement of its own
free will but at the pressure of the Hungarian Government.

The Campaign Goes On

During the negotiations between the State and the Church
the KADAR government did not think it necessary to cease its attacks
against the Church. The papers almost constantly continued their
accusations against ecclesiastical personalities. For example, 
"Somogyi Neplap", official organ of the Hungarian Socialist Workers'
Party in county Somogy, sharply attacked the priests of that county
and accused them of breaking the agreements made between the State
and the Church.("Samogyi Naplap", 17 and 31 July 1957.)


Government organs prevented traditional Easter, Rogation
Day, Corpus Christi and St. Stephen Day processions.

In its campaign against the Church, the KADAR government
started to arrest and intern ecclesiastics under the pretext of 
"participation in the counter-revolution".

Istvan PADOS, a Benedictine monk, was sentenced to life
imprisonment. (Hungarian Monitoring, 25 May 1957.) The county Gyor
court passed the death sentence on Laszlo MINDSZENTI, parish priest
of PER. ("Nepszabadsag", 25 August 1957.)

Hungarian Research Background Report, 9 Sept 1957, page 6

"Nepszabadsag" reported on August 1 a statement by the
Ministry of the Interior's Information Department on the 
unmasking of a "large ecclesiastic counter-revolutionary group".
Istvan TABODI, student of theology, Imre WARJU and Antal KUKLA,
priests, and Albert Egon TUECSANYI, pensioned priest, were
arrested... ("Nepszabadsag", 1 August 1957.)

According to Kathpress (31 August 1957) Bishop BADALIK of
VESZPREM and Bishop PETERI of VAC, who were released during the
revolution, were removed from their seats and interned at HEJCE.

This series of arrests proves that the KADAR government
will increase its attacks against the Catholic Church. A specially
strong attack is to be expected in the near future as a result of
the recently-published Papal decree by which in Hungary clerics may
not take up any kind of political activity and by which, if such
persons do not give up their political activities within a month,

End.

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