Petőcz Kálmán (szerk.): National Populism and Slovak - Hungarian Relations in Slovakia 2006-2009 (Somorja, 2009)
Miroslav Kocúr: For God and Nation: Christian National Populism
Miroslav Kocúr the Catholic Church enjoyed highly above-standard relations (including personal ties) with government organs.” “We are sorry that officials of an organization that exerts tremendous influence over (perhaps) millions of believers are unable to condemn fascism in concrete Slovak conditions and instead it stubbornly strives to glorify its top representative in Slovakia.” 11 A declaration by the Conference of Slovak Bishops regarding the Vatican document on Holocaust called "We Remember: A Reflection on the Shoah" from March 25, 1998; available at: http://www.kbs.sk/?cid=l 118409627. 12 SITA news agency, June 4, 2009. 13 SITA news agency, January 5, 2009. 14 “The Slovak Catholic Church must begin to contemplate pastoral duties with respect to [ethnic] Hungarians in the 21st century,” Csáky said. “I expect it to examine modern pastoral methods and search for the way to treat believers of other ethnic affiliation.” Quoted by the SITA news agency, January 5, 2009. 15 Hcrdics, György - Zsidó, János: “Rímskokatolícka cirkev” [‘The Roman Catholic Church’] in Fazekas, József - Hunčík, Péter (eds.): Maďari na Slovensku (1984 - 2004). Súhrnná správa. Od zmeny režimu po vstup do Európskej únie [Hungarians in Slovakia (1989-2004): A Global Report from Change of the Regime to Accession to the European Union], p. 418. 16 TASR news agency, January 7, 2009. 17 Sme daily, January 14, 2008. 18 Sme daily, July 6, 2009; available at: http://www.sme.Sk/c/4921120/fico-na-oslavach-varoval-pred-madarskym-iredentizmom.html 19 Sme daily, July 6, 2009; available at: http://www.sme.Sk/c/4921120/fico-na-oslavach-varoval-pred-madarskym-iredentizmom.html; http://video.sita.sk/vidcoservis/P-PASKA-Slovacisa-v-historii-nenechali-porazit-ziadnou-krizou/4911 -play.html 20 SITA news agency, July 5, 2008. 21 SITA news agency, October 5, 2008; available at: http://www.webnoviny.sk/slovcnsko/clanok/22373/Slota-posilneny-domacim-ribezlovym-vinom-odhaloval-dvojkriz.html 22 The most widely publicized cases include that of Boston’s Cardinal Bernard Law or nevermaterialized appointment of Archbishop of Warsaw Stanislaw Wojcicch Wielgus. 23 In this context, one may refer to the issue of Hungarian bishop and chances to influence or force appointment of concrete candidates. On July 17, 2009, Slovak President Ivan Gašparovič signed an amendment to the Law No. 270/1995 on State Language of the Slovak Republic as Amended. The amendment caused a public furore as legislators paid little or no attention to comments presented by representatives of minorities and various civic platforms that urged them to withdraw or rework the amendment. Interestingly enough, not a single representative of Christian organizations or churches presented any relevant statement on the issue. 24 This was the so-called super-secessionist approach to Judaism in the first century A.D. when biblical Israel that failed in recognizing the Messiah was according to ordinary interpretations replaced by the New Israel, i.e. the Christian community that later evolved into church, which is a new, authentic community of believers. In the course of several centuries, this allegory became so broadly embraced within the Christian environment that hardly anyone perceived it as allegory anymore. The processes of splitting Christianity that would follow went through similar phases as newly-defined communities rejected previous institutional forms and showed a strong tendency to portray themselves as a new community in the spirit of New Israel or the new and one true church. Naturally, the new community refused any connection with the preceding institution and its representatives. Good examples of this pattern include the Eastern Schism, the emergence of English 244
