HIS-Press-Service, 1980 (5. évfolyam, 16-18. szám)
1980-02-01 / 16. szám
HIS Press Service No.16, February 1980 Page 11 Marxian ideologists and Church politicians proceed on the assumption that hand in hand with the actualization of socialism there will come about a decrease in religiousness, an increase in the secularization of social consciousness, and the spread of technologically-based ideology. With this in mind, according to Miklós, Hungarian Church politics distinguishes "between the ideological and political goals of the Marxist Party..., and views ideological goals not in themselves, but in (their) relation to political ones." It is not because of toleration or liberalism, i.e., because of this or that principle, that the political leadership creates harmony between ideological and political goals, but as the result of a continual trial of strength, i.e., in accordance with the developments at any given time in the relations between local Church and State, or Party, representatives - or between the pastor and the council chairman or Party secretary. The situation concerning religious freedom is thus quite different throughout the country; it is different in practically every city, every village. In this way, there can develop on the local scene a Church political climate completely different from that on a national level, which can prove either advantageous, or disadvantageous, for the Church. On the local level, therefore, actual religious freedom is dependent to a great extent upon personal relations, whereas on the national level it is political usefulness that is decisive, in line with the pragmatic application of the paroles "This against that," and "I give - I take." Though Miklós stresses that State and Church are equal partners, in reality Hungary's Church leaders (the partners in the Church-State dialogue) find themselves in a relationship of dependence, in a position of constrainment. In such a situation, which calls for dynamic forceful ness, it remains a disadvantage for Hungary's Church that it has still not accustomed itself to radicalism, to living together with the stronger and more powerful, and still places too much hope in achieving "concessions" from the State as a result of negotiations. Were it not to go beyond the framework of this study, it would be important to mention one more aspect in connection with the above situation: One of the most important principles contained in the Hungarian constitution should actually function as a guarantee of complete religious freedom, since it states that "every disadvantageous distinction among citizens according to sex, (religious) confession, or nationality is liable to strict legal prosecution." (text of the Constitution). This is the very problem faced by "second class citizens," a category into which persons of religious conviction fall in- Hungary - a situation referred to many times by Hungary's bishops.
