Theologian: No Papal rebuke for Orban in Hungary

Pastoral theologian Csiszar in the Linz church newspaper: Francis must respond to local conditions during his trip "and will say: You are the people of St. Martin".

Anyone expecting Pope Francis to rebuke Prime Minister Viktor Orban or the bishops there during his visit to Hungary, which begins on Friday, will probably be disappointed: This was the assessment of pastoral theologian and Eastern Europe expert Klara-Antonia Csiszar in an interview with several Austrian church newspapers (current issues). It is not the reprimanding, moralising and polarising that corresponds to the nature of the head of the Church, but rather the starting point of existing positive experiences. "Pope Francis will say: 'You are the people of St Martin'. And he will thank Hungary for taking in a million refugees from Ukraine," says the Professor at the Catholic Private University of Linz.

Csiszar saw the history of Hungary's society and Church, as well as that of other former Eastern Bloc countries, as the only way to make "at least a small step forward". The western EU countries had a "40-year head start in democratic experience", in a "completely different social context in which existential insecurity was not such an issue as it is today". Communism, on the other hand, had taught Eastern Europe to "come to terms with what is" and not to voice dissent. That is why even Christians there largely rejected the Church's social positions. Against this background, changes can only be achieved "very cautiously".

 

According to Csiszar, Prime Minister Orban is attractive to Hungarians because he is a strong leader in a "polycrisis" and has access to the people. Hungary's Church also sees him as a "defender of Christian values". However, these values mean something different in Eastern Europe than in the West: "In Hungary, they are mainly understood as the family of woman, man and children," the theologian explained. Hungary's government policy also determines the positions of the churches, which are financially dependent on the state. For example, Hungary's churches are dependent on public funds for the renovation of churches, parsonages or church education and hospitals, as there is no church contribution and thus no financial independence.

Learning to deal with dissent

Klara-Antonia Csiszar, who was one of the Austrian delegates at the European meeting of the World Synod in Prague and co-authored its final report, said that failures of Western European churches had also contributed to the development of the Church in Hungary and other Eastern Bloc countries. The Church in the East had been "predominantly financed by German funds", whereby the aid agencies involved had demanded the signature of the local bishop for every project application. This runs counter to concerns such as the promotion of women. "What bishop in Eastern Europe will send a woman to study in Western Europe? Not even priests are sent at the moment," Csiszar pointed out. Research projects also had no backing from the bishops, he said, "because research is critical and presents them with tasks." Thus, the West had supported an "authoritarian church" unnoticed.

Last but not least, theological know-how is also a question of money, the pastoral theologian from Linz pointed out. "Only a few local churches in the world can afford the kind of theological research that exists in Western Europe. It would be wise to profit from it. You don't have to do it again." Of course, a lot of mediation is necessary.

Csiszar wanted many things to be "presented more charmingly" so that the ideas of the German church reform project "Synodal Path" would not immediately meet with rejection in Europe's younger democracies. It is also necessary to think of the Church in Western Europe "in a very inclusive way with all those who do not belong to us. And the challenge will be how we go together with those who belong to us but have a different opinion.

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