Fodor György - Török József - Tusor Péter (szerk.): Felekezetek az Igazság szolgálatában: történelem, teológia, önazonosság (1500-2000) - Studia Theologica Budapestinensia 34. (2009)
I. Catholic-Orthodox symbiosis in Transylvania (Katolikus-ortodox együttélés Erdélyben) - József Marton: The relationship between the Roman catholic and the Greek catholic church between 1940-1950
THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE ROMAN CATHOLIC AND THE GREEK CATHOLIC CHURCH BETWEEN 1940-1950 The relationship between the Roman catholic and the Greek catholic church represents a common topic for discussion, but we rarely try to reflect on it on the occasion of scientific workshops or reunions, articulating its historical roots and contemporary implications. Looking back in the past, the two churches were united by the common suffering and persecution, but from time to time their relationship was charged with serious controversies regarding the canonic differences and mostly with the ethnical conflicts in Transilvania. Although we concentrate on a short period of the Church history, we have to reveal the crucial moments of this controversy dating back for 300 years. The scientific studies relate that the remarkable personalities of the Greek catholic church have deeply contributed to the formation of the Romanian national culture in the 1 8-19th century. The Romanian nation had been “turned to” the European spirituality by the enlightened intellectuels of the Greek catholics. The creation of the modern national language, the organization of the Romanian educational system couldn’t have been realized without the activity of the “Transilvanian School” (Erdélyi Iskola) from Balázsfalva. Without a more detailed analyse of the cultural comittement of the Greek catholics, and without reducing the importance of the Orthodoxy in this field, we can affirm, that the Greek catholic Church has significantly influenced the national progress and the reawakening of the national forces. In the 18— 19th century, similarly to the Greek catholics, the Roman catholic church enjoyed the support of the Habsburg Dinasty, fulfilling a fundamental cultural mission in the Hungarian community in Transilvania. It’s an important fact to emphasize, because the Hungarian culture historians of liberal orientation living in the 19-20th centuries sustained a false, simplified image about the Catholic church, characterizing it as the agent of compromise, reducing its role of promoting the cultural values. 35
