HIS-Press-Service, 1978 (3. évfolyam, 9-12. szám)

1978-02-01 / 10. szám

-Press-Service

Special Topic: Religion and Church in Hungary

. No . 10-VI enna, February 1978

THE FACTS

Prelate Dr, György Ádám Dies

Prelate Msgr. Dr. György Ádám, who was the chief Hungarian pastor of souls for both Germany and all of Western Europe and the representative to the Holy See of all emigrant Hungarian Catholics, died in Munich on 18 January 1978 at the age of

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66. For almost 30 years, György Adam's pioneer activity for the Church consisted in developing a special Hungarian-language pastoral care program for the large number of Hungarian Catholics who emigrated to other European countries after the end of World War II. The passing of every year saw a further development of this program. His extensive practical experience made him especially suited for aiding Rome as an advisor in organizational questions concerning the pastoral care of emigrants and tourists.

THE BACKGROUND

A New Missionary Field in the Christian World: The Pastoral Care of Refugees, Emigrants, Guest Workers, and Tourists,

Especially in Europe,the great streams of refugees at the end of World War II and the explosive developments taking place in the field of technology in the years thereafter resulted for thousands of people in a mobility almost similar in its massiveness to that of the great European migration of the 3-5th centuries. The pastoral programs,which had up to that time been organized on a local level, were unable to keep pace with this development.

In the years 1947-48, the Vatican representatives who had been sent to the refugee camps in Germany and Austria expended their efforts in alleviating the personal and social misery of the camp inhabitants. The constitution Exul Familia,issued by Pope Pius XII in 1952, already contained an extensive series of regulations, binding for the entire Church, which dealt with the organization of pastoral care among the groups of faithful forced to live in permanent separation from their homelands. On the basis of this document, the Congregation of Bishops (Congregatio Consistorialis), which is the highest body responsible for pastoral activity, formed a High Council (Consilium Superior) responsible for the organization of the pastoral care of all faithful such as sailors, circus employees,ship and air