HIS-Press-Service, 1980 (5. évfolyam, 16-18. szám)

1980-11-01 / 18. szám

HIS Press Service No.18, November 1980

Page 12

the "given situation," and that the justifiable demands of the faithful in religious matters will be taken into consideration. What, however, can be considered "justifiable," or whether, for example, the faithful are in need of an expansion of Church activities - to prove this is the task of the Church, and it is from the Church that such initiatives must come. When asked about the religious orders during the press conference held in Rome, for example, Secretary of State Miklós said that there must first of all be a study of whether there is actually even a need for religious orders, or whether the whole matter involving the orders is not simply "based on concepts taken over from the past." To take another example, it is not unthinkable that the State would be willing to free seminarians from obligatory military service; it would be the Church, however, that would have to make such a request.

The Church will never find itself in, or be able to create, ideal conditions for itself in this world. Terms such as "Realpolitik," "modus vivendi," etc., indicate that the community of the faithful and the Church's leaders must take into account existing situations and the limitations placed upon the possibilities for evangelization. In politics, and thus in church politics too, compromises are unavoidable. Martyrdom and opportunism are Christianity's extremes, and Christianity will always encounter tensions in maintaining the balance between the two. The unbending approach of the Gospel has always made Christians a sign of contradiction in the world.-;The difficulties involved, however, constitute a challenge. If the Church forms itself into a unified community which also unites its strengths, and if - through a dynamically lived Christianity - the Church is in a position to break down the barriers of formalism while at the same time helping - within the framework of the possibilities open to it - to bring about an inner renewal in contemporary form, then the Church can look to the future with hope. It is the aim of Pope John Paul II to promote this renewal in the spirit of the Second Vatican Council in Hungary.

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Published by the Hungarian Institute for Sociology of Religion /HIS/ - President:

Bishop Stefan László, S.D.,Eisenstadt - Editorial Board: Emeric András,Ph.D./Vienna/, Julius Morel, Ph.D /Innsbruck/, Julianna Ujváry M.A./Vienna/. - A—I 140 Wien,

Linzer Str. 263/1-, Phone /0 22 2/ 94 21 89. Österr.Postsparkassenkto. 7739 006.

Eigentümer, Herausgeber und Verleger: Ungarisches Kirchensoziologisches Institut.

Für den Inhalt verantwortlich: Dr.Emmerich András. Beide: A-1 140 Wien, Linzer Str.263/18. Druck: OffsetschneI Idruck Anton Riegelnik, A-1080 Piaristengasse 19.