HIS-Press-Service, 1985 (8. évfolyam, 26-28. szám)

1985-02-01 / 28. szám

#46^

Press-Service--------Special Topic: Religion and Church in Hungary ------------------------- No.28-VIenna, February 1985

20 Years after the Partial Agreement

BETWEEN THE VATICAN AND THE HUNGARIAN GOVERNMENT

The 15th of September 1984 marked the twentieth anniversary of the so-called Partial Agreement made between representatives of the Holy See and representatives of the Hungarian People's Republic. This event caused considerable international interest as this was the first time a Socialist country in the Warsaw Pact had made an official agreement with the Vatican. Usually, settlements concerning the relations between Church and State are only negotiated within the national frontiers, i.e. with the episcopacy of the country in question. The right to negotiate with the Vatican was considered as the privilege of the Soviet Union. The agreement shows, on the part of the Hungarian Government, an open acknowledgement of the authority of the Holy See in matters of leadership in the Hungarian Church. The Vatican, in its turn, noted its recognition and acceptance of the State's claim on the loyalty of the Hungarian Church leaders to its interests.

Point 1 of the partial agreement - after previous agreement with the State - concerned the appointment of bishops; Point 2 of the agreement regulated the status of the Hungarian Papal Institute in Rome. This institution, which is situated in the same building as the Hungarian Embassy, and which, up to now, has been run by Hungarian priests engaged in the pastoral care of the faithful outside Hungary, should, from now on, be directly responsible to the Hungarian Bishops Conference again. The State, for its part, allows every year eight scholarship-holders from Hungary to live in this home and to continue their theological studies at universities in Rome.

A series of matters which remain unresolved was drawn up in a still unpublished protocol.

The most important aspect of the agreement is in the continuation of negotiations on the unresolved matters in the protocol as well as new issues as they arise, in the form of discussions taking place twice a year, in Rome and in Budapest alternatively.