HIS-Press-Service, 1986 (9. évfolyam, 29. szám)
1986-02-01 / 29. szám
HIS Press Service No.29, February 1986 Page 3 non-priests, i.e., to entrust duties involving great responsibility to laymen who are indeed well trained theologically and spiritually but largely inexperienced in practice. The State expressed its political demands in the course of the negotiations preciding the agreement: since the pastoral activity of the authorized laity is to be considered as a partial assumption of the work hitherto executed by priests, the lay ministers would have to take the oath of loyalty to the Constitution, as the priests had already done until now. In the text of the agreement this point finds no mention. It is vigorously emphasized, on the other hand, that the bishops have to bear the responsibility for the pastoral ministry of the laity. This corresponds completely, moreover, to the official view of the Church according to which the bishop represents the head of his diocese and bears responsibi1ity within it. And it corresponds also to the spirit of the agreement between the Government and the Bishops' Conference of 1950 as well as to that of the partial agreement between the Holy See and the Hungarian Government of 1964. According to unofficial reports, the State wishes to ensure a right of reservation in connection with the hiring of full-time lay ministers. According to the governmental ordinance no. 23/1971, only the appointment of bishops and other personalities on the highest level of the Hungarian Churches requires the prior consent of the State. Appointments to the higher ecclesiastical offices must be registered with the State Office for Church Affairs within two weeks after the appointment*, If the latter raises no objection within two weeks, the appointment acquires validity. The appointment of religion teachers (in the schools) must be approved by the County Council after application on the part of the Church. The appointment of assistant priests (who, however, must swear an oath of allegiance to the Constitution upon the assumption of their first pastoral position), lay employees, and volunteer helpers does not require registration. The regulation on religious education stemming from the year 1975 containes no provisions with respect to the employment of religion teachers. The regulation, which is presently a topic of discussion, should from now on--according to unofficial reports—render necessary the prior consent of the State for the hiring of full-time religion teachers, etc. (both in the schools and in the churches). In connection with the hiring of other persons employed full-time the State is allegedly supposed to wish to ensure a two-week veto right. Difficulties will doubtless result from the novelty of the matter: the Hungarian # Church has no clearly defined forms or experiences with respect to the lay apostolaié at its disposal. For, neither the itinerant lay ministers or licenciâtes, who during and after the Turkish occupation were outstandingly effective, nor Catholic Action and the other religious associations of the period between the
