HIS-Press-Service, 1978 (3. évfolyam, 9-12. szám)

1978-11-01 / 12. szám

-Press-Service--------Special Topic: Religion and Church in Hungary _________________ No. 12- Vienna, November 1978

THE FAC T_S

After two years of preliminary preparation, in September 1978 the Theological Academy in Budapest began its first theology extension course for lay persons.

THE BACKGROUND

Growing Interest in Theology - Also in Hungary

A growing interest in theology among large circles of the laity is being registered at present throughout the world. All the more reason for hailing this trend comes from a much less welcome tendency which can be found today in almost all Christian countries, namely the steadily decreasing numbers of persons belonging to the priesthood, that is, of persons who are professionally involved with theology. Some lay theologians, on the other hand, are involved on a professional basis with teaching religion; others are interested in assuming jobs as lay persons within the Church structure. In many cases, however, the main reason lay persons take up the study of theology on a college level is simply personal interest in it as a subject, and the hope that it will help them in developing a philosophy of life. These are people who feel within themselves the need for more intense participation, and more effective action on their part, within the Church community. At the theological colleges of the Western world, the number of lay persons studying theology is now already far higher than that of candidates for the priesthood. A great many of these lay persons are women.

Two factors play a decisive role in the interest in theology expressed by lay Catholics in Hungary: On the one hand, there is not only the isolation from the world Church and Western theology, but also the position of self-defense which the Hungarian Church has been forced to take upon itself for the past three decades. Neither of these situations were such as to encourage an interest in theology. On the other hand, the ideological confrontation which accompanied the changes in Hungary's society increased the need of the faithful for well-based knowledge in the area of theology. For 30 years, however, Hungary's Church had at its disposal no means of meeting these needs. The acceptance of individual male lay persons which occured now and then at Budapest's Theological Academy was hardly worth mentioning.

There was, however, a type of personal initiative going on which, considering the