HIS-Press-Service, 1977 (2. évfolyam, 5-8. szám)
1977-06-01 / 7. szám
HIS Press Service, June 1977 Page 4 Soviet governmental system, the motivation behind calls for disarmament, etc, which serve to suggest that the interest of the Soviet Union in possible changes in Church-State relations could serve to open up new perspectives in this direction. Hungary: An Experimental Field for the Eastern European Countries in Church Politics? Hungary is often described as being the showcase for the West among the Communist countries. The state of affairs existing in this country, especially the relatively large amount of freedom existing in the intellectual and economic spheres, not to mention that of travel, has often been described as "unorthodox" by the neighboring socialist countries. There are indications, however, that the experiences undergone in Hungary through experimentation in the economic sector are being followed with great interest in other socialist countries concerned with solving their own problems. The results achieved in Hungarian agriculture through the restructuring of that sector, for example, have been partially adopted by the Soviet Union in its reform of the kolchos statutes. Many of the Hungarian experiences gathered in the reform of economic planning, the so-called new economic mechanism, have influenced the restructuring of the Polish economy. One of the significant factors at work in Hungary is the fact that the Budapest government has unusually friendly relations with the non-block socialist country of Yugoslavia as well as with Finnland and Hungary's politically neutral western neighbor Austria. The Communist-ruled countries could also look to Hungary as an example of how a viable path toward compromise between a socialist state and the Church can be found. This was succinctly expressed by György Aczél, the Vice Prime Minister of Hungary, who said: "The representatives of the socialist state are of the opinion that this state of relations (existing between Church and State) is in accord with both our social situation and political principles. The representatives of the churches say (for their part) that the present state of relations is amenable both to the interests of the churches and their calling." (Világosság, 1976/10) Even Hungary's Communist politicians themselves stress the international significance of the experiences gathered within the country. In the study mentioned above, for example, György Aczêl says: "We are of the opinion that valuable experiences have been accumulated in Hungary in the area of bringing together people who hold to different philosophies of life. We consider it our duty to continue making advantageous use of these experiences in the future so that we may be of service in helping solve national and international tasks facing both believers and Marxists."
