Egyháztörténeti Szemle 15. (2014)
2014 / 2. szám - SUMMARIES IN ENGLISH - Kovács Kálmán Árpád: The Catholic Church Policy System in Transylvania (1761-1774)
Summaries in English Summaries in English The Catholic Church Policy System in Transylvania (1761-1774) Kovács, Kálmán Árpád Transylvania, this part of the Hungarian Holy Crown under Habsburg reign in the 18th century had its religious and political position, that only 10 percent of the population were roman catholic and religious rights of the Protestants were embedded in all of the legal documents of the country. The author evinced in this study, that the Viennese government had in the fist half of the century the primary aim to revindicate medieval monastery buildings and to set there traditional and later grounded ordens (first of all the Franciscans, Jesuits, Piarists and in the female education the Ursula nouns). Revindicating all the medieval churches was drawn up in 1731, but this program began only 30 years later to come slowly into practice. Stronger catholic missionary activity was began in 1761 in Transylvania at the example of the inner Austrian lands. The increasing number of catholic missions propagated their faith fist of all under the Unitarians (Arians), but the training ground was the Anabaptist (‘Hutterian’, ‘new Christian’) mission from 1764 to 1768 (aside from the most violent features of this mission). Missionary options were, that the scope of the separate votes and secret information of catholic officials were extended not only to church restitution processes, but also to the Protestant church renovation petitions. Catholic church restitution could be demanded upon 1) created catholic parish as a result of catholic missionary; 2) catholic (medieval) type of the church; 3) the non ecclesiastical use of the formal sacral building. 4) satisfaction financial base and funds of the Catholics to renovate their church and school and hold their parson and school-rector. 5) The (social, propercial or numerical) majority of the Catholics in the community. In this case were the upper class with the candidate to public offices and the underclass with the entice of financial assistance allured to the catholic church. The church renovations petitions caused an opportunity to force the Protestant community to give up their formal church and to build a new one. In that case they could acquire central financial assistance to this project. In the mental stress caused by the long-lasting process and the legal and religious humiliation occurred some violent and abusive actions from the side of the protestants. The financial penalties for those were dedicated often to the catholic church (re)constructions. After 1763 were more and more the principle of state chancellor Borié approved: not the property of the (medieval) church is important but the real organization of the catholic parish and worship services.
