HIS-Press-Service, 1977 (2. évfolyam, 5-8. szám)

1977-06-01 / 7. szám

-Press-Service--------Special Topic: Religion and Church in Hungary --------------------------------------- No. 7 - Vienna, June 1977

THE FACTS

János Kádár in a Private Audience with the Pope

At the invitation of Italy's Prime Minister Giulio Andreotti, János Kádár, the First Secretary of the Socialist Workers Party of Hungary and a member of the Presidential Council, traveled to Rome this year in the first part of June. On 9 June 1977, János Kádár was received by Pope Paul VI in a private audience.

The audience, which took place in the Holy Father's private library, lasted the better part of an hour. In addition to Pope Paul and János Kádár, there were also present Archbishop Msgr. Agostino Casaroli, the Secretary of the council dealing with public Church affairs, and the Hungarian Foreign Minister, Frigyes Pulya. According to the Vatican press secretary, the mutual efforts aimed at securing peace and the cooperation among peoples of the world were spoken of during the audience. The Church-State relations in Hungary were also discussed in connection with the results achieved since the partial agreement reached between Church and State in 1964. It was noted that these results had only proved achievable through the mutual efforts of both sides. Both sides also expressed their willingness to promote the study of still unresolved questions and work toward a solution to them.

After the end of the private audience, the unofficial members of János Kádár's entourage were introduced to the Pope. These included János Kádár's wife and József Biró, Hungary's Minister of Foreign Trade. The Pope described the Vatican visit of the Hungarian Party head as an event unique both in its special significance and major importance, coming as it did at the end of a 14-year period of tedious, but nevertheless uninterrupted, efforts aimed at finding an avenue of approach between the Holy See and the Peoples Republic of Hungary and at lessening the tension which had existed for so long and whose effects have still not completely disappeared today.

The meeting, the Pope continued, had taken place between the two persons who had worked at the highest level in promoting the Church agreements reached in Hungary. The course taken in these negotiations had not gone unnoticed by the rest of the world. It had been attentively followed by many and was often greeted with criticism or at least with perplexity. The Pope expressed his hope that this dialogue at