HIS-Press-Service, 1977 (2. évfolyam, 5-8. szám)
1977-04-01 / 5. szám
HIS Press Service, April 1977 Page 3 National Hungarian pilgrimages to Rome took place in 1972 and 1975. Nine bishops took part in the first pilgrimage, eleven in the second. In 1973, however, the year in which the Hungarian ad limina visits were due, only Archbishop Ijjas, the head of the Hungarian Bishops Conference, and Bishop Cserháti, the Secretary of the Hungarian Bishops Conference, traveled to Rome where they met with various congregations and committees and gave an official report on the situation of the Hungarian Church. The Written Report Just as the ad limina visit underwent changes throughout the years, so also were various changes made in the written report presented to the Pope and the appropriate Vatican committees. Through years of experience, the most important points to which the bishops had to give written answers were gradually sorted out and further crystallized. Since 1725 the written reports made by bishops in all parts of the world are sent to the Church's central administration according to a predetermined, detailed plan. This Church information plan, whose aim is to offer a picture of Church life in the given dioceses, was constantly revised to adapt it to the changed life conditions. The last modification of this plan in 1975 replaced the one in force since 1918 which consisted of a report form containing 100 points of interests. The present 28-page form is a standardized report form for use by all dioceses. It contains special sections both for organized dioceses following the Roman and Greek Catholic rites and for those areas and missions which at present still do not have the status of independent, organized dioceses. In addition to the data of the bishop heading the diocese at the time and the persons connected with the diocese's administration, there are also questions pertaining to the state of the faith in the dioceses, the possible utilization of the mass media, the implementation of the liturgy reform, the reception of the sacraments by the faithful, and the relationship between the bishop and his priests, on the one hand, and between the priests and the faithful, on the other; there are also questions about the priest senates, the parish councils, financial contributions to the missions, the situation in religious instruction and evangelization, successes stemming from participation of the laity, the state of ecumenism, the activity of Church charity organizations, special problems in pastoral care such as abortion, migration, and problems stemming from the urban situation and the steps taken to relieve these problems. The report form also contains a special column for the more important diocesan statistical data on the number of faithful, priests, parishes, as well as statistical data on religious practices, etc.
