HIS-Press-Service, 1977 (2. évfolyam, 5-8. szám)
1977-12-01 / 8. szám
HIS Press Service No.8. December 1977 Page 11 The bishops would prefer that the children become acquainted with the fundamentals of their faith in the home. This is why the religion book for the 3-6-year-olds has been set up in such a way that the parents can use it as a source for pedagogical and didactical aids. These idealistic hopes seem to have proven utopian. "The parents have neither the time nor the knowledge needed for introducing their children to the teachings of the faith," said Cardinal Lékai at the Bishops Synod. There is a movement in some parishes to involve the parents in the religious education of their children. Within the framework of educational talks, the religious education of the children is discussed once a month with the parents. The participation of parents of 6-14-year-old children in religious instruction meets with almost insurmountable problems, however, since these parents belong to a generation in whose school days religious instruction was offered only as an optional subject, which means that most of these parents received no religious instruction themselves. It is hardly surprising, therefore, when these parents not only prove incapable of giving their children a religious upbringing, but in addition influence their children in the wrong direction through personal example. According to the presentation by Cardinal Lékai at the Bishops Synod, this is also the reason why 2/3 of the children become inactive in Church life after their reception of First Communion or Confirmation. In connection with this, Cardinal Lêkai mentioned that today people from the older generation play a certain role in the religious education of the children. In many cases it is the grandmothers, who themselves all received religious instruction in the schools, who pass on the basics of religious life within the family. That which, because of the circumstances at the time, they failed to do for their own children, they are now trying to make up for with their grandchildren. The so-called church base groups, which try to witness to their faith through a lived Christianity, play a significant role in the process of evangelization being carried on in Hungary at present. These people, who come together in an informal manner with a circle of friends in order to study the Bible or increase their depth of spirituality, are unfortunately a thorn both in the side of the State agencies and the bishops. The Hungarian bishops have made several attempts to officiallyintegrate these groups into the Church structure. The decisions reached at the meetings of the Bishops Conferences in winter 1976 and January 1977 stem partially from reasons of a church political nature, and partially also from an attempt to gain control over certain manifestations which have been labeled degenerative. These decisions rest upon a deeply traditional, authority-based attitude on the part of the bishops and show little understanding for the inner dynamism of these base groups which, in their need, have turned to self-help. The bishops, however, did not simply remain satisfied with passing resolutions.
