HIS-Press-Service, 1977 (2. évfolyam, 5-8. szám)
1977-06-01 / 7. szám
HIS Press Service, June 1977 Page 9 found during the course of the forthcoming negotiations. Since then the situation has not changed in any important respect, though the main reason for this is that not much time has passed since then. At the same time, however, there are various indications - including János Kádár's visit to Pope Paul VI - that the situation which has developed is not static, but instead contains within itself possibilities for further development. In evaluating the possibilities, one must take the following points into consideration: 1. The developing Church-State relations in Hungary concern primarily the relationship existing between the Bishops Conference and the Party, that is, the State functionaries. These relations have had very little effect upon the clerics, who must carry the main burden of pastoral activity, or upon the difficult situation of the laity. (We point out here, for example, the difficulties experienced in praxis in religious instruction, the unsolved problem of Order members, the limited possibilities for priestly vocations, and the problems connected with the activities of the small Church groups.) 2. The autonomy of the Church hierarchy is still greatly hindered by the system of State intervention and surveillance which stems from the period before the 1964 agreement and has been modified only formally. 3. Another effect of this outdated system is that up to now no negotiations have taken place between Church and State which might help solve the problems referred to at Lékai's enthronement. To date, very few of the problems contained in the secret protocol which belongs to the non-published part of the 1964 agreement have been placed on the discussion agenda. 4. The beginning for the dialogue has been set, and the more decisive approaches taken in the last few months can be evaluated as hopeful signs: They show that the leaders of both the Church and State are equally concerned with solidifying their mutual relations through developing new, ideal foundations for them. At the same time, this dialogue can be seen as a new form of working toward solutions to existing problems. It signalizes the fact that the situation is not stagnating, despite the lack of any measurable results with the past year and a half. Future church-political events will demonstrate the practical significance and importance of Kádár's Vatican visit. This will especially be the case in seeing to what extent a change will take place in the relations existing not only on the highest Church-State levels, but also in the area of the practical conditions and guarantees necessary for an unhindered development of the religious and moral life of the believers.
