HIS-Press-Service, 1977 (2. évfolyam, 5-8. szám)
1977-04-01 / 5. szám
HIS Press Service, April 1977 Page 4 The Hungarian bishops had no real need to answer the questions concerned with the relations existing between Church and State. The Vatican is already fully informed about the situation in Hungary. As is well known, at the partial agreement reached between) the Hungarian government and the Vatican in 1964, a 30-page list of still unresolved problems was also drawn up. It was agreed upon that discussions concerning these problems would take place annually. Although there are no formal diplomatic relations existing between the Hungarian government and Rome, the negotiations which regularly took place between the Vatican and Hungary provided Rome not only with sufficient opportunity to become acquainted with the special problems facing Hungary's Church but also the chance to approach them, in accord with the Church's Ostpolitik, in a manner especially adapted to the Hungarian situation. There is no doubt but that the Church has produced a significant diplomatic accomplishment in the course of its negotiations which led to guarantees in the area of pastoral activity in Hungary. In drawing conclusions about the success or failure of the Vatican's Ostpolitik, therefore, it would be fully acceptable to use as an example the position which the Church in Hungary has gradually achieved for itself. A Hungarian prelate referred somewhat ironically to the written reports submitted by the Hungarian bishops on the situation in their dioceses as "homework" which would be "corrected and returned" to them at their papal audience. According to reports in the Hungarian newspapers, the Hungarian Bishops Conference held a special meeting in January concerning preparations for the written report to Rome and the ad limina visit. This suggests that the report will be formulated in a uniform manner, that is, a common agreement was reached on how the individual points of the form would be answered. The suspicion that this collective preparation suggests compilation of the reports by the bishops along guidelines issued by state agencies cannot be proved - though the possibility of such outside influence cannot be completely eliminated either. Whatever the case may be,, one can be sure that the state agencies are fully informed on what the Hungarian bishops will report to Rome about the situation in their dioceses. In connection with the report of the Hungarian bishops, one should take note of a statement made by the present head of the Hungarian Bishops Conference, László Lékai, on the occasion of his appointment as Archbishop of Esztergom on 15 February 1976. In an interview with the Hungarian news agency MTI concerning an internal survey of the Church situation, he said: "To date, we have not succeeded in compiling a thorough survey on the situation of the Church, the priests, and the faithful. As a result, we have no clear picture either of successes achieved,
