Petercsák Tivadar – Veres Gábor szerk.: Agria 44. (Az Egri Múzeum Évkönyve - Annales Musei Agriensis, 2008)
Gy. Gömöri Ilona: A hevesi katolikusok vallásos társulatai a két világháború között
Adatközlők Harnos Istvánná Nagy Ilona Klécz Istvánné Balázs Margit Kovács Benedekné Balázs Margit (szül. 1928) Laboda Károlyné Nagy Ilona (szül. 1926) Nagy Béláné Fülöp Margit (szül. 1926) Sinkovics Istvánné Lajer Etelka (szül. 1915) Szedlák György Ilona Gömöri Roman Catholic Religious Societies and Associations Between the Two World Wars In Hungary the period 1920-1945 saw a spectacular renewal and strengthening of the Roman Catholic church. During these decades more than 80% of the population of the town of Heves were Roman Catholic. The church exerted an enormous influence on the life of the community. During the course of the period under examination there were 15 religious societies in Heves alone, the membership of which exceeded 2000. About 25% of the town's population participated in some way in the life of one of the religious societies. Looking at the functions of the societies one can detect three main types: 1. purely religious associations, 2. social organizations and movements, 3. charitable societies. The intention of the religious associations was to promise greater Christian zeal in people's everyday lives. The most popular among them was the Rózsafüzér Társulat (Rosary Society), which had almost 1700 members, 17% of the population of Heves. The Szívgárda (The Guardians of the Heart) was made up of primary school children, while the Mária-Kongregáció was formed especially for adolescent girls between the ages of 14 and 18. The encouragement of greater religious zeal was also propagated by the Szent Ferenc harmadrendje (Lay Order of St Francis) and the Oltáregylet (Altar Association). The social organizations included the boys' and girls' associations and the students' associations. There were special societies for boys working in the craft industries and agriculture, and girls working on the land ( Iparos Ifjak Legényegylete, KALOT, KALASZ). They were actively involved in the life of the community, putting on cultural events and productions. The Levente paramilitary 273
