Dénesi Tamás (szerk.): Collectanea Sancti Martini - A Pannonhalmi Főapátság Gyűjteményeinek Értesítője 7. (Pannonhalma, 2019)

II.Közlemények

Inter arma non semper silent musae! 191

Christianity behind the iron curtain: orthodox, catholic and protestant Christians alike. However, unsuspected forces lurked behind the dialogue in formation. Professor Ottlyk was in the service of the apparatus of state security and made detailed reports on the ecumenic efforts of the Benedictines, thus, his relationship with the Benedictines served the interests of the state intelligence more than those of ecumenism.

Katharina van Drimmelen, a female pastor from the Netherlands started visiting the socialist block in 1970, she formed connections with Calvinist pastors and bishops working in isolation in Hungary. Her flat in Vienna served as a “Centre for Ecumenism”. She established connections with young Benedictine university students in Budapest. During her visits to Hungary, Pannonhalma proved to be a sure basis many times. The organizations of state security in Hungary and Romania took note of her activity. Based on the reports made on her, it would be worth researching Katharina van Drimmelen’s mission of ecumenism in Central Eastern Europe.

The Aktion Sühnezeichen (ASZ) was established by the German Lutheran Council in 1958. According to the original idea, the ASZ would have been a voluntary service of peace for a year in those countries, which suffered the most harm caused by the Third Reich. The summer camps for the youths participating in the movement were characterised by the Christian scale of values. The connections of catholic Hungarians with the ASZ were established by a Benedictine priest and teacher, Asztrik Várszegi in 1976. He sent the pupils of the Benedictine secondary schools of Győr and Pannonhalma to the summer camps, and German youths came to Hungary.

Despite betrayals, disintegrations and peril, the middleaged and young generations of the Benedictines in Pannonhalma preserved their desire for the efforts concerning unity owing to the support of Archabbot Norbert Legányi. The “ecumenic connections” were not meetings of theological level, they were rather the first steps towards mutual respect and knowledge. The fraternal relationships established in hard times serve as the foundation for development today, in times of newly achieved freedom.