HIS-Press-Service, 1981 (6. évfolyam, 19-21. szám)

1981-03-01 / 19. szám

HIS Press Service No.19, March 1981

Page 4

priests made this necessary in order to provide continued pastoral care. At present, State imposed limitations and prohibitions have been eased to such an extent that priests who were once members of a religious order and are now retired or employed in a secular occupation are no longer forbidden to help out in pastoral care.

The ca. 40 new priests who are ordained in Hungary each year fail by far to maintain the number of the country's clergy. As a result of the large number of deaths and withdrawals from the priesthood, the number of priests active in pastoral care is decreasing annually by about 50 persons. Credible estimates suggest that, under the same conditions as today, there will be 2,300 priests active in pastoral care in 1990, and that this number will decrease to 1,800 by the turn of the century. This decrease will necessarily result in the closing of many churches. At present there are in Hungary, within the framework of ca. 2,300 parishes, over 4,000 churches and places of worship available to the country' Catholic population.

Number of Active Priests According to Age

Diocese

25-30 31-40 41-50 Years

51-60

61-65

66-70 0 1 d

71-75

76-80

81-85

86-90

Total

Csanâd

8

22

29

32

19

20

16

2

1-149

EGER

48

48

108

116

58

65

14

6-2

465

ESZTERGOM

18

60

70

88

30

63

27--356

Győr

23

36

64

62

26

40

10

5-2

268

Hajdúdorog

12

33

39

37

10

11

2

2--146

KALOCSA

7

9

13

32

17

15

5

2

1

1

102

Pécs

11

17

36

61

22

32

18

8

1-206

Székesfehérvár

12

17

33

59

33

29

10--193

Szombathely

13

29

46

40

25

19

11

8

1-192

Vác

27

51

90

98

38

34

9

4--351

Veszprém

17

54

52

93

55

55

25

7

3

1

362

Total

196

376

580

718

333

383

147

44

7

6

2,790

In relation to the total male population of the country, the age structure of Hungary's clergy shows a marked agedness. On 1 January 1979, 59% of the male population were between 25 and 50 years of age. Only 41% of the clergy fell into this age bracket, whereby the percentage of priests in this age group varies from one diocese to another, In the Archdiocese of Kalocsa, only 28% of the priests are between 25 and 50 years old; in the dioceses of Pécs, 31%; Székesfehérvár, 32%; and Veszprém, 34%. The Diocese of Hajdúdorog, with 58%, exhibits the best age dispersion. If the extreme agedness of Hungary's clergy is examined