HIS-Press-Service, 1980 (5. évfolyam, 16-18. szám)
1980-02-01 / 16. szám
HIS Press Service No.16, February 1980 Page 15 A reform "in small steps" - an undertaking which would be hampered by constant State studies of the matter - could, however, result in a situation - as mentioned above - wherein the modus vivendi regarding the present state of pastoral care might, due to the rapid depletion in the ranks of the clergy, easily develop into a modus moriendi in that area. Such a procedure in small steps could only hold out hope of success if these small steps were well-planned and proceeded, even as far as details were concerned, on the basis of a carefully developed pastoral plan. This, however, would in turn require reliable statistical surveys and analyses of the present situation, an undertaking for which the State Office for Church Affairs has to date not given its permission. Cardinal Lékai, who is himself of the opinion that a renewal can only come about in small steps, clearly stated on the occasion of his enthronement as Archbishop of Esztergom in February 1976 that such a comprehensive inventorization of the existing situation is necessary, though up to the present nothing at all has occurred in this area. The small steps taken by the primate up to now offer no evidence of a larger concept. The successes achieved by him so far are primarily the result of his personal prestige and connections. CONCLUSION In a speech before the Polish Bishops Conference in Czestochowa on 5 June 1979, Pope John Paul II talked of the prerequisites necessary for the trustworthy development of relationships between a socialistic government and the Church of such a country. His statements are also applicable to the situation in Hungary. In speaking of the normalization of the relations between the socialistic government and the Church in Poland., Pope John Paul referred to the statements of his predecessors, John XXIII and Paul VI, and to the Second Vatican Council's Declaration on Religious Liberty and stated his conviction that "it goes without saying that a concrete application... of these principles can only be in harmony with the idea of 'religious freedom' when they take into consideration the real needs of the Church which are bound up with her manifold activity----Genuine dialogue must respect the (religious) convictions of the faithful. It must garantee all rights of citizens and, in addition, the normal prerequisites required by the Church to exercise its activity as a religious community----We realize that this dialogue cannot be easy since it takes place between diametrically opposed ideologies. (Such a dialogue) must, however, prove to be both possible and effective if it is required in the interests of the good of man and the nation___The clarity of principles and their practical application is a source of moral strength and in addition contributes to the process of genuine normalization." (L'Osservatore Romano, No.24, 15 June 1979).
