Petőcz Kálmán (szerk.): National Populism and Slovak - Hungarian Relations in Slovakia 2006-2009 (Somorja, 2009)
Miroslav Kocúr: For God and Nation: Christian National Populism
Miroslav Kocúr visited a village of Pavlovce in the district of Vranov nad Topľou to celebrate planting a concrete double cross, a state symbol of Slovakia. Having admitted he was under the influence of some home-made red currant wine, Slota gave an emotional speech to the audience of two or three hundred and used a militant vocabulary when speaking of Slovakia’s southern neighbour. First, he stated that Slovakia used to be the centre of Christian Europe. Later, he used offensive language to speak of Hungary’s foreign minister, ridiculing Hungarian history and slandering Hungary’s national cultural symbols. Although Slota repeatedly said that SNS officials did not mean to offend anybody by planting double crosses around Slovakia, in his short speech he did just that several times. In this particular case, a combination of vulgar national populism and Christian beliefs was amplified by the fact that representatives of the church assisted in the unveiling of a commemorative plaque and the ceremony of consecrating the cross lent a sacral dimension to the event. Civil rights activist Ondrej Dostál subsequently filed a motion to prosecute Slota on grounds of defamation of the nation, race and conviction. The Office of Regional Attorney in Prešov rejected the motion, reasoning that the facts of the case did not indicate that the crime had been perpetrated and arguing that this kind of verbal communication was natural and standard for Ján Slota. In its official statement, the Office of Regional Attorney observed that Ján Slota, a politician and chairman of a political party, was known for his virulent public speeches. As far as this author is aware, leading representatives of the Catholic Church have not yet publicly dissociated themselves from similar attempts to combine militant national populism with Christian motives, symbols and even church ceremonies of consecrating concrete double crosses. NaTÍOINAÜZATÍON VS. ClobAÜZATiON In order to better understand the way in which the Catholic Church interacts with the outer world, it is necessary to realize the modus operandi of the Catholic Church as such. From the institutional viewpoint, it has a strongly centralized hierarchic structure. The history refers to this type of constitutional model as an absolute monarchy. It is politically embodied by the Vatican, a state headed by the pope who in the spirit of monarchist rules appoints his vassals (exceptions are rare) to posts of bishops who are in charge of lower administrative units - namely dioceses. This mentality of a community in which rights and obligations are divided very asymmet230
