HIS-Press-Service, 1976 (1. évfolyam, 1. szám)
1976 / 1. szám
HIS Press Service, An Review of 1976 Page 6 national groups which had participated in America's development as a nation were offered a part in the festivities. Since there are approximately 1,5 million Hungarians living in North America, Philadelphia's Cardinal John Krol invited Primate László Lékai and the Greek-Catholic auxiliary, Bishop Szilard Keresztes, to take part in the program set up by the Hungarians. Because of the time-consuming negotiations first necessary with Hungarian State agencies, it took months before Lékai was able to reply to the invitation and report - to the great surprise of the Hungarians living in North America - that he would be attending the Congress at the head of an 11-man delegation and planned to visit Hungarian Church communities in North America after the close of the Congress. The "World Association of Hungarians," an official State agency, founded to maintain contact with Hungarians living in other countries, helped sour the attitude of Hungarians in North America through its lack of tact. The foreign section of this agency used its press service, which is available in other countries, to discuss the political points of view which Hungarian politicians hoped would be connected with Cardinal Lékai's trip. This distrust was increased by the fact that the head of the Secretariate of the Hungarian College of Bishops, one of the prominent members of the Priests for Freedom Movement who was still well-remembered as the official companion of the Hungarian bishops during their attendance at the Vatican Council, not only accompanied the official Congress delegation to Philadelphia, but also took an active part in the Hungarian program at the Congress. o : -It was because of these political preparations, which took into consideration neither Church viewpoints nor the niceties of diplomacy, that, even before Cardinal Lêkai had set foot on American soil, the Hungarian newspapers of North America were beginning to ask whether Lêkai‘s visit might not turn out to be a type of modern "Trojan horse" since it seemed that the Primate, under the guise of religion, was trying to exercise political influence upon the Hungarians living in North America. From the very beginning, the obvious coolness expressed by the exile Hungarians forced a reduction in the number of community visits made by the Cardinal. It was only the winning personality of this Hungarian Church leader that was able now and then, to the extent opportunities for personal contact presented themselves, to break down this barrier of unacceptance. This incident demonstrates the confusion which can arise when politically motivated State intervention in Church affairs takes place. This was even here the case - in a situation where the intervention was not opposed to the interests of the Church. These two examples taken from recent events in Hungary's Church demonstrate
