HIS-Press-Service, 1980 (5. évfolyam, 16-18. szám)
1980-02-01 / 16. szám
HIS Press Service No.16, February 1980 Page 8 "The successes of socialism will not be measured by what we have achieved in the battle against religion." Miklós sharply criticized all those who in his opinion judge the question of religious freedom in Hungarian Church politics from a false standpoint. "The Hungarian Churches," he said, "are still faced with many unjust attacks and abuse coming from various Western, and sometimes even responsible Church, publications___ It is interesting to note the effort still expended in attempting to apply the forms of the capitalistic system to our situation. These are of course not applicable to us, as a result of which many people too quickly conclude that the Churches in Hungary are not free, that freedom of religion exists by us only on paper, etc. However, the platitudes of the capitalistic social order will never fit our situation.... We (who live) in a socialistic society are determined to fashion our Church politics in line with our situation, (and in a way) with which faithful, Communists, the Churches and the State are in agreement." COMMENTARY Freedom of faith and religion is a form of the right to free speech and the right of assembly, which are recognized as basic human rights. It is not a question here of whether these basic human rights are stipulated in the constitution of a country, but of whether the individual, as a religious person, is permitted to live as such privately or together with others. Essential here is the extent to which this legal right - should its exercise be hindered - can be enforced in a country with the help of the courts. Secretary of State Miklós stated that in Hungary too freedom_:Of religion is considered a basic human right - and yet his statements give the impression that in the common exercise of religion it is no longer the right of the individual which is decisive, but rather some type of collective regulation set up either unilaterally by representatives of the State, or one agreed upon by the given legitimate State and Church leaders, i.e., an agreement between two partners whose position is everything other than equal. The communal exercise of religion thus no longer emanates from human rights, from natural law, but from the statute law existing at a given time. Marxism stresses that man is a species of living beings, and emphasizes the group aspects. The Christian concept of man too stresses man's communal aspect; in this personalistic approach to man, however, man is seen as an individual who - though unique and unreproducible - is open to others and achieves his own self-realization through personal relationships and bonds of love with others. The relations with others, the aspect of community, is also an essential factor in religious experience. The right to free exercise of religion thus also includes the communal dimension, as was repeatedly emphasized by Pope John Paul II, who referred to the
