HIS-Press-Service, 1986 (9. évfolyam, 29. szám)
1986-02-01 / 29. szám
HIS Press Service No.29, February 1986 Page 5 necessary for the maintenance of the schools. Even the partial agreement reached in 1964 between the Holy See and the Hungarian Government brought in the question of the religious orders no concession on the part of the State. Since then, this problem, i.e., the readmission of the orders belongs to the standing items on the agenda of the biannual discussions between representatives of the Vatican and the Hungarian Government. In 1982 on the occasion of the ad-hmina visit of the Hungarian bishops, Pope John Paul II expressed his hope thát even in the present time all those who in Hungary "perceive the call of the Lord to consecrate themselves to him in the religious life—the contemplative religious life not excepted--could follow their calling to build up the kingdom of God and to serve the civil community." In a commentary on this papal visit by Bishop Cserháti, we read the following: "The question of the former orders as well as of new, modern religious communities, which could also take over social or other secular functions, stands now as much as ever on the agenda of the negotiations taking place between the Church and the State." With the successive improvement of the relations between Church and State, the attitude of the State towards the matter of orders has also changed. Since 1985, the State holds the view that the Church--with respect to its role in society--is no longer to be equated with what it was before the social change, that it has now found its place in society and its role in the construction of socialism. It was elevated to an official maxim of Church policy that no topic should be excluded from the negotiations between Church and State. With other words: "Everything is possible!" The plan to hire religious nurses emerged already at the beginning of the seventies; the concrete negotiations, however, were not productive, for, on the one hand, the religious nurses living in Hungary at that time were already too old, and, on the other hand, the political presuppositions for the State-guaranteed permission for the necessary new recruits were lacking. In the fall of 1984, an initiative was begun anew: Catholic Relief Service resolved to found a training center for female social services, the graduates of which were to be employed in the existing social homes of the Church. With the favorable development of the situation, they would have also been able to lay the groundwork for the new women's order. But with some disappointment it was then established that only a few respond to the first announcements, and none at all were interested in a women's order in this setting. In the past years only appreciative words could be read again and again in the Hungarian press about the life style of the religious. In particular, the selfless and devoted work and care of the former religious nurses were missed. The fact that the attitude to this question has changed on the part of the State is
