Egyháztörténeti Szemle 16. (2015)
2015 / 1. szám - SUMMARIES IN ENGLISH - Hantos-Varga Márta: Hungarian Catholicism and the ‘True Democracy’ in 1945 and 1946
Summaries in English 131 from Northampton, Massachusetts, played probably the greatest role in shaping the movement itself. In contrast, Charles Chauncy, a congregational minister from Boston, opposed the emotionalism of the revivalism and noticed a gap between the unfolding events and the meaning attached to them by Whitefield and others. Ultimately, the main questions are the following: to what extent can we consider the Awakening a spontaneous, widespread movement which bears at least some resemblance throughout the colonies; and what was the role of the network of itinerant preachers and their use of the colonial newspapers in popularizing these events. Hungarian Catholicism and the ‘True Democracy’ in 1945 and 1946 Hantos-Varga, Márta The study focuses on the first six months of the year 1946, which was a period full of decisive events and not without illusions considering solutions for the present situation in Hungary. During these months catholic public figures, political and ecclesiastical actors tried to define the new political, and societal system using Christian state theory. Theoretical discussion were going on about the essence of a ‘Hungarian’,- a ‘modern’, a ‘serious’ and a ‘true’ democracy as alternatives for ‘people’s democracy’. The paper on the one hand through archival records investigates different strategies of catholic ‘trends’ involving examination of the expression ‘progressive Catholicism’ (and of the contemporary evaluation of Western European paradigms, such as the French); on the other hand examines Pope Pius XII’s manifestations concerning democracy paying particular attention to the wireless message of Christmas 1944 and its two rival Catholic translations published at the same time. In addition to this the study summarizes how the Hungarian Catholic Church defined democracy in its first official declaration, and expounds cardinal Mindszenty’s so far unpublished notes on the topic.
