Pressed by a Double Loyalty : Hungarian Attendance at Theÿsecond Vatican Council 1959-1965

by Andr s Fej rdy

Overview

The Second Vatican Council is the single most influential event in the 20th century history of the Catholic Church. The book analyzes the relationship between the Council and the "Ostpolitik" of the Vatican through the history of the Hungarian presence at Vatican II. Pope JohnIII, elected in 1958, was a catalyst. The pope thought that his most urgent task was to renew contacts with the Church behind the iron curtain. Hungarian participation at the Council was also made possible by the new, pragmatic model in Hungarian church politics. After the crushing of the 1956 Revolution, churches in Hungary thought that the regime would last and were willing to compromise. Vatican II – in the perspective of Hungary – was not primarily an ecclesial event, but it remained closely joined to the negotiations between the Holy See and the Kádár regime: during the Council Hungary became the experimental laboratory of the Vatican's new eastern policy. Was it a Vatican decision or a Soviet instruction? Fejérdy suggests that it was a decision of the Holy See.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9789633861424
Publisher:	Central European University Press
Publication date:	05/30/2017
Pages:	446
Product dimensions:	6.20(w) x 9.10(h) x 1.20(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

András Fejrédy is researcher at the Research Center for the Humanities, Institute for History at the Hungarian Academy of Sciences (Budapest), and associate professor of Church History at the Catholic University Péter Pázmány (Budapest–Piliscsaba)

Table of Contents

Foreword ix

Preface and acknowledgements xiii

List of Abbreviations xvii

Introduction 1

Part I The (Ante-) Preparatory Phase of the Council (1959-1962)

1 The Holy See 11

1.1 John XXIII and the Council 11

1.2 The supreme pontiffs and Communism 15

1.3 The Holy See and Hungary 19

1.4 Efforts to ensure Hungarian participation in the Council 22

2 The Hungarian People's Republic 37

2.1 A shift in ecclesiastical policy 37

2.2 The place of the Holy See in Hungarian ecclesiastical policy 41

2.3 The Hungarian People's Republic and the issue of Council attendance 45

2.4 A decision is reached in Hungary 52

3 The Catholic Church in Hungary 69

3.1 The state of the Hungarian Catholic Church in the period of preparations 69

3.2 Hungarian council recommendations 75

3.3 The Hungarian bishops and the question of Council attendance 81

Part II Hungary and the Holy See during the Second Vatican Council (1962-1965)

1 The Holy See: Council and Ostpolitik 101

1.1 The Second Vatican Council and the Catholic Church: Ecclesia ad intra 101

1.2 The Council and humankind: Ecclesia ad extra 104

1.3 Vatican Ostpolitik at the time of the Council 108

1.4 Modus non moriendi in Hungary 123

2 The Hungarian People's Republic: Council and "Vatican policy" 163

2.1 The means of achieving total control 163

2.2 Goals to be achieved through attendance at the Council 181

3 Controlled Freedom: The Hungarian Catholic Church and the Second Vatican Council 239

3.1 Vie council delegation 239

3.2 Hungarian contributions to the work of the Council 251

3.3 Negotiations with the Holy See 274

Part III Epilogue: After the Council

1 Holy See: Dialogue and Ostpolitik 313

1.1 Dialogue after the Council 313

1.2 The Holy See and Hungary after the Council 316

2 The Hungarian People's Republic 327

2.1 Political appraisal of the Second Vatican Council 327

2.2 The reception of the Council by the state in Hungary 331

3 The Hungarian Church 347

3.1 Learning about the Council 347

3.2 Practical reception 349

3.3 Theological reception 352

Summary 361

Chronology 367

Annex 1 Hungarian participants in the Second Vatican Council and their escorts 391

Annex 2 Hungarian council fathers de iure and de facto 398

Annex 3 Hungarian contributions to the work of the Council 399

Sources and Bibliography 401

Index 421

Editorial Reviews

"The election of the Patriarch of Venice Angelo Roncalli to the throne of St. Peter, taking the name of JohnIII, opened new perspectives not only inside the Catholic Church, but also in its relations to the world, in particular towards the countries behind the „iron curtain", then plagued by a persistent anti-religious persecution. Known as „Ostpolitik", this attitude marked by a cautious and persevering search of dialogue, met the decision of the Hungarian authorities to send an ecclesiastical delegation to the Second Vatican Council.

This book written by András Fejérdy highlights the double loyalty of Hungarian bishops present at the council towards their own country and the Holy See, place and symbol of the unity of the Catholic Church. We are very grateful to András Fejérdy for having drawn first-hand information from archival sources that allow us today to shed light on these difficult but certainly promising and fruitful years."

—Bernard Ardura

"This book lifts the veil on a part of Vatican II history that has received little attention in the literature: the Council under the Communist regime. This invaluable contribution opens the door to new perspectives and promotes new research in the field."

—Gilles Routhier

From the Publisher