Liszka József (szerk.): Az Etnológiai Központ Évkönyve 2008-2009 - Acta Ethnologica Danubiana 10-11. (Dunaszerdahely-Komárno, 2009)
Tanulmányok - Bárth Dániel: A nyugati és a keleti kereszténység határá. Vallási együttélés és konfliktusok a dél-magyarországi Bácskában a 18. században (Összefoglalás)
set of ecclesiastical decrees were necessary to implement into everyday practice this unit for it had been missing from the eastern liturgy. The position of the Protestants during a period of five decades between the two main royal decrees was disadvantageous. And then this qualification can be regarded as an understatement. In this period, between 1731 and 1781 the publicity of Protestants’ practice of religion was restricted and confined to only some given places. Usually it was only private practice of religion that was permitted. It meant that the Protestants were not allowed to build a church or an oratory, they could carry out worship only at home among family members. Protestant clergymen were under Roman Catholic ecclesiastical authority even in dogmatic issues (for instance the manner of christening). Mixed marriages could only be made by Roman Catholic priests, and even in purely Protestant marital proceedings it was only the Roman Catholic authorities that were competent. In the case of mixed marriages, the Protestant party had to provide a written document in which he or she agreed on that each child would be brought up as Roman Catholic. The Protestants were compelled to celebrate Catholic feasts. To enter any state administrative office one had to take an oath in which the Blessed Virgin Mary and the saints were referred to. In this respect change took plaee only when the decrees (for example Edictum Tolerantiale, 1781) of the enlightened ruler, Joseph the II, were issued at the end of the 18Ih century (Kosáry 1983, 83-89, 386-396). The Orthodox people were in a more favourable position than the Protestants. The Orthodox people were referred to in contemporary Roman Catholic ecclesiastical sources as schizmaticos that is schismatic/dissident. The state support of Orthodox Serbs was preserved until the middle of the century since they earned out defensive military service. The royal court managed the issues of the Protestants and those of the Orthodox separately, and it regulated the practice of religion of the Serbs with a special agreement in the second half of the 18th century. In the former period at local level it often occurred that the ecclesiastical leaders did not really distinguish the Orthodox and the Protestants. Regarding the defence of Roman Catholic religion and faith it was the Protestants who were clearly considered as a more dangerous party compared to Orthodox people (Kosáry 1983, 89-93). In those settlements where a considerable number of Orthodox people lived, they were allowed to build churches and to have priest without any constraints. Their own bishops had authority over the local ecclesiastical communities. Among their duties we may find only the observation of four Roman Catholic feasts (Christmas, Easter, Whitsuntide and the Lord’s Day/Corpus Christi). In practice it meant that the pubs and stores were closed on these days. In the case of other minor feasts, these were closed only from 8 to 11 in the morning. All these decrees had real meaning and consequences in settlements whose population belonged to various denominations. In these mixed villages the bishop’s visitations paid special attention to the behaviour of these “dissidents”. In course of these visitations complaints on behalf of the Roman Catholic priest and the flock were collected and recorded. Injuries and complaints naturally emerged among different denominations living close to one another. For example in a report from 1767, the Roman Catholic villagers of several settlements complained of the Orthodox, since according to them the Orthodox people did not observe Catholic feasts, and they even rang the bells on Good Friday. In this same year we might find a record according to which in the municipal council of a town the Orthodox inhabitants also had representatives, although they were in a minority position. The local magistrate was Orthodox, the notary was Roman Catholic, out of four 55
