HIS-Press-Service, 1981 (6. évfolyam, 19-21. szám)

1981-07-01 / 20. szám

Press-Service

Special Topic: Religion and Church in Hungary

No, 20 - Vienna, July 1981

THE FACTS

Dedication of the "Pope John XXIII Retirement Home"

In all probability, the Catholic Retirement home dedicated to the memory of Pope John XXIII will be opened in Budapest on 27 July 1981. This Church-administered home for the Catholic laity is the first such home to be opened in Hungary since the commencement of that country's present political system. Hungary does have other Catholic retirement homes, but these are solely for the use of priests and former members of religious orders.

THE BACKGROUND

First Catholic Retirement Home for the Laity

In September 1977, Cardinal Lêkai made known the Church's intention to build a Catholic retirement home for the laity. Th/is home, which would be built near the cemetery of Farkasrét in Buda, the hilly section of the country's capitol, would house about 100 persons. At the time of the announcement, the Diocese of Esztergom had already purchased the land required for the project.

The construction was to be financed in part, said the Cardinal, by selling interested applicants the right to future living quarters in the home. The initial price of a one-room apartment was set at 320,000 forints, and the price of a two-bed apartment at 160.000 forints for each person. Such purchased rights to living quarters in the home could not be deeded to another person. Upon the death of the occupant, the right to the use of the vacated quarters would again revert to the home's administration. Upon payment of the stipulated fee, the home's new residents would receive the right to the use, or future use, of the home's individual and common facilities. In addition, the home's residents would be assessed a monthly fee for meals and boarding costs. The completion of the five story building which includes basement and first floor was set for 1979.

In a further statement regarding the home in March 1979, Cardinal Lékai expressed the hope that work on the project would begin in April and that the basic construction would be completed by the end of the year. At that time, the initial price for living quarters would be definitively set down; these prices would be