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BOX-FOLDER-REPORT: 32-4-25
TITLE:             The Hungarian-Vatican Accord
BY:                
DATE:              1964-9-18
COUNTRY:           Hungary
ORIGINAL SUBJECT:  Hungarian Unit
THEMATIC SUBJECTS: Hungary--1956-1965, Church and State, Hungary--Foreign Relations--Vatican

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HUNGARY
18  September 1964

THE HUNGARIAN-VATICAN ACCORD

The difficult negotiations conducted between
representatives of the Holy See and the Hungarian Government since the spring
of 1963, both in Budapest and in Rome, have yielded the first
tangible results. The partial agreement, representing a compromise
of limited scope, signed in the Hungarian Foreign Office by Msgr.
Agostino Casaroli, deputy secretary of the Holy Congregation for
extraordinary Church affairs, and Jozsef Prantner, President of the
Hungarian State Church Office, marks the successful conclusion of
the first round of the talks. It thereby leaves the door open
for the settlement of other, more difficult issues.

The agreement, the full text of which is not yet known,
is obviously the product of hard bargaining. This is clear from
the official announcement made by Radio Budapest on September 15,
which says that the document contains "some practical agreements,
safeguards and/or obligations concerning some of the questions under
discussion," but, at the same time, it "embodies the standpoints,
claims and reservations" expounded by the two parties concerning
individual questions. The hope that other problems might also be
solved in the future through fur there talks was expressed both in
the official announcement of Radio Budapest and in Prantner's
comment on the agreement. The President of the Hungarian State
Church Office attributed, of course, the agreement to the "more
realistic" appreciation of the progress achieved by the Hungarian
People's Republic and the increased reputation of the Socialist
countries. This, according to Prantner, had impressed the Vatican

[page 2]

and had prompted its readiness to settle relations with the Hungarian
State. Such a "realistic policy" might lead to the settlement of
other pending issues, he stated.

The points on which agreement has been reached were
disclosed by Prantner in an interview granted to MTI on September 15.
He said that the agreement refers to l) the appointment of bishops,
2) the citizen's allegiance oath to be taken by priests, and 3) the
position of the Papal Hungarian Institute in Rome. This,
considerable though it is, represents only a small segment of the many
problems which have been under discussion between the Holy See and the
Hungarian Government since spring 1963. The many unresolved
problems include, for example, the freedom of the Bishops to run their
dioceses and entertain regular contacts with the Holy See, more
liberal conditions for the teaching of religion and the training
of young priests; these do not appear to be covered at all by the
present agreement. The most outstanding and dramatic problem which
has yet to be settled and which has so obviously been sidestepped
is that of Cardinal Mindszenty. The whole complex of problems
which revolve around the Cardinal and the Archbishopric of
Esztergom, the most important in Hungary, still remain unsolved. The
same -- on a less dramatic level -- applies also to the Bishoprics
of Vác and Veszprém, which are still run by an auxiliary Bishop
and an Apostolic Administrator, respectively.

The decisions involving appointments made under the
agreement -- the nomination of an Archbishop and of five Bishops -- show
the compromise nature of the agreement particularly clearly. The
Hungarian Government has dropped its earlier claim to have prominent
peace priests elevated to the dignity of Bishop. It has gone
further; it has accepted as one of the new bishops Jozsef Winkler,
a person whom the Holy See oppointed "unilaterally" in 1959 and of
whom the regime did not approve. On the other hand the Holy See
agreed to promote to the rank of Archbishop a
man -- Endre Hamvas -- who may appear to many as a little too pliable toward the Hungarian
regime. Of the four new Bishops, two have been the virtual heads
of their dioceses for some time and have played a considerable
role also in public life, while the other two are meritorious
clergymen of high scholarly or pastoral standards, but without any real
prominence in public life. They are definitely not peace-priests.
On the contrary, the appointment of some of the new Bishops might

[page 3]

well diminish the influence of some notorious peace-priests in the
bishoprics to which they have been appointed. It will also mean
an infusion of fresh blood into the highest Church hierarchy.

A definite concession by the Vatican seems to be indicated
by the clause pertaining to the position of the Hungarian Institute
in Rome. Up to now there have been no details about this particular
clause, but it is very likely that the Institute, now in possession
of exile priests, will pass into the hands of the Hungarian
Government. Just what is involved in the new agreements on the question of
the civic oath of allegiance to be taken by priests, is not known
at the time of this writing.
Biographical Data on Appointees

Dr, Endre Hamvas, former Bishop of Csanád, has been
appointed Archbishop of Kalocsa. The 74-year-old Hamvas, president
of the Bench of Hungarian Catholic Bishops since October 1961,
succeeded the late Jozsef Grosz, Archbishop of Kalocsa. Since
December 1961, Hamvas has occupied the office of President of the
"Opus Pacis," the organization of the bishops for "peace propaganda."
In October 1954 he was elected to the National Council of the
People's Front, a post to which he was re-elected in October
1957In March 1964 he also became member of the Presidency of the
People's Front's National Council. Since January 1962 he has also
been a member of the Presidency of the National Peace Council. He
has visited the Soviet Union twice: in April 1958 on the invitation
of the Soviet Governmental Council for religious affairs and in
July 1962, when he was a member of the Hungarian delegation to the
Moscow conference "of disarmament and peace." Hamvas headed the
Hungarian delegations to the sessions of the Ecumenical Council.
He is a scholar of high standing, and author of the current
textbook on religion used in Hungarian schools.

Hamvas celebrated Tis Golden Mass in 1963 and has been
a Bishop for 20 years. It remains to be seen whether his
appointment to the Kalocsa Archbishopric will curb the influence of
the notorious peace priest Dr. Imre Várkonyi, who has been the
capitular vicar of the Archbishopric since the death of Jozsef
Grosz in October 1961. In February 1963, Várkonyi was also elected
to Parliament and has been liable to fall under excommunication

[page 4]

for that reason. Hamvas' appointment to the Kalocsa Archbishopric
seems to be a compromise solution.

Dr. Pál Brezanóczy has been a Capitular-Vicar of the
Eger Archbishopric since the death of Gyula Ozapik in April 1956.
In August 1959 he became Apostolic Administrator. His appointment
as titular Bishop confirms his administration of the Archbishopric,
a responsibility which he has held for some years now. The
52-year-old Brezanóczy has the reputation of being one of the
most vigorous and capable of Hungarian prelates. He attended
both sessions of the Ecumenical Council. The fact that also he
visited the Soviet Union in 1958 and North Vietnam in September
1961, as well as his membership of the National Council of the
People's Front since March 1964, did, however, give rise to some
doubts as to his relation to the regime. On balance, however, his
overall record shows that he has always known how to move cleverly
between the limits of his Church offices and contemporary
imperatives. His appointment to one of the largest Church dioceses in
Hungary may well represent a definite plus for the cause of
Catholicism in Hungary.

Dr. József Cserháti, about fifty years of age, has also
functioned as Capitular Vicar (since 1960) of the Pécs Bishopric.
Now he has been confirmed in the post as titular Bishop and
Apostolic Administrator. For years he has held the chair of
professor at the Catholic Theological Academy in Budapest. He is
the type of prelate who seems to have done nothing to displease
the regime, or to cast a shadow on his priestly office.

Jozsef Winkler, about fifty, was appointed auxiliary Bishop
of Szombathely by the Vatican in 1959, without the prior approval
of the Hungarian Government. In this same, in regime eyes,
"illegal manner," Gellert Bellon was appointed auxiliary Bishop
of Pécs, also in 1959. His name is not mentioned in the new accord.
Up to now Winkler had been prevented from exercising his office
because of the illegality of his appointment and has simply held
a minor post in the hierarchy of the Szombathely Bishopric. The
agreement has now "legalized" his position. In fact the Holy See
has now asked for the "previous consent" of the Hungarian
Government, and this has been granted. Under the Canon Law, however,
Winkler has been a Bishop since his appointment by the Holy See.
His case is a clear example of a compromise; in the case of

[page 5]

Bellon the Vatican has not pressed the point so obviously.

Dr, József Ijjas, about 50, has been appointed titular
Bishop of the Csanád Bishopric, thereby taking over the governing
duties formerly held by Endre Hamvas, Ijjas is a relatively obscure
prelate who has been a parson in various localities of the Kalocsa
Archbishopric.

Dr, József Bánk, about 60, the new auxiliary Bishop of
Gyor, is an outstanding shcolar of Canon Law. A former secretary
of the late Primate Cardinal Seredi, Archbishop of Esztergom, he
has been a professor of the Catholic Theological Academy in Budapest
in recent years. He attended the session of the Ecumenical Council
in 1963.

The Bishop of Györ, Kalmán Papp, is not only 78 years
old, but his health is extremely poor. The actual running of
the Bishopric has fallen into the hands of the Capitular Vicar,
Menyhert Rozsály, one of the most notorious peace priests.

X X X

The timing of the announcement of the accord must be
booked as a masterly political stroke of the Kadar regime.
Available evidence points to the fact that the Hungarian regime
deliberately held back on the agreement until the convention of the
third Ecumenical Council -- in order to draw maximum attention to
its "reasonable" attitude á-la-Togliatti

Problems remain. The embarrassing presence of Cardinal
Mindszenty has been more than gingerly skirted by both sides. The
question of religious instruction in schools, the activity of priests
in towns and villages -- crucial points for the Church -- are not
touched upon, to name only a few of the outstanding questions between
the Vatican and the Kadar regime. But the initial evaluation of the
accord must remain on the positive side of the balance sheet; the
Hungarian Bench of Bishops is being reconstituted.
(This paper was first published on 15 September 1964.)

(RE/Hungarian Unit)

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