HIS-Press-Service, 1982 (7. évfolyam, 22-24. szám)
1982-04-01 / 23. szám
HIS Press Service No.23, April 1982 Page 4 Gyula Szakos, the future Diocesan Bishop of Székesfehérvár, already has three years of episcopal experience in this diocese. Bishop Szakos personifies the fate of auxiliary bishops in Hungary. It is a fate which he has done his best to overcome - namely that of forced inactivity. As is known, the activity of auxiliary bishops is only minimally involved with diocesan administration: In most cases, the services of these bishops consist primarily in representing the diocesan bishop at pastoral functions such as confirmations, ordinations, etc. Not one of Hungary's auxiliary bishops holds an office such as that of Vicar General or Diocesan Chancellor, which are respectively the second and third highest diocesan administrative positions and involve an established sphere of activity. The fact that presently at least 80% of Hungary's Vicar Generals and Diocesan Chancellors are leading figures of the Priests for Peace Movement is reminiscent of the situation existing before the normalization of Church-State relations when these positions were occupied by persons with State allegiance who had been installed under State pressure Rome is not competent for appointments to these positions, though advance State approval must be obtained for each such appointment. Now that the relations between the Holy See and the Hungarian government have been normalized, it would be merely logical to demand that only persons who have been both suggested and approved during the course of mutual negotiations be involved in diocesan administration, i.e., that the auxiliary bishops be granted leading administrative positions within their dioceses. To escape his imposed inactivity as auxiliary bishop in the past years, Dr. Szakos continued to function as a pastor. He has always carried out his pastoral activity in a loving and conscientious manner which has evoked the genuine appreciation of the faithful. He has also made special efforts to promote priestly vocations and offered support to young assistants. In view of the growing lack of priests, Bishop Szakos has consistently made efforts to promote the lay apostclate, and attended the International Lay Apostolate Conference in Vienna in 1981. One year after the death of Bishop Winkler, the Diocese of Szombathely will again have a new auxiliary bishop, Dr. György Póka. His past activities have been manifold: After being an assistant and al so prefect in the seminary, he was secretary to the bishop for eleven years. When in accordance with a directive issued by the Holy See in 1957, the Diocesan Chancellors who were leading members of the Priests for Peace Movement were removed from office, Dr. Póka was designated Diocesan Chancellor of Győr. A year later, when Dr.Pôka's predecessor again resumed his previous position, Dr.Póka was assigned to serve in place of the pastor in a small village, and was involved in pastoral activity for several years. Since 1978 he has been rector of the Theological College of Győr, where the seminarians have come to appreciate and value his presence. His welcome as the new rector took place with
