Croatian and Hungarian Bishops for a Europe on Equal Footing

Zagreb (IKA) – The building of Europe should begin from the foundations and not from the roof, i.e. the thousand years of Christianity of the Croats and Hungarians. In the Catholic Church in Hungary and Croatia and the Governments of these two countries, it is necessary to build a Europe on equal footing with other nations, stated Archbishop Eger and the president of the Hungarian Conference of Bishops, Istvar Seregely, following the regular annual meeting of the delegations of the Croatian and Hungarian Conferences of Bishops at a press conference held on September 9 at the Secretariat of the Croatian Conference Bishops. The topic of this year’s meeting was the attitude of the Church toward the process of European integration and the education and preparation of candidates for the priesthood, as well as pastoral activity for the Catholic Hungarians in Croatia and the Catholic Croats in Hungary. Archbishop Seregely pointed out that the future of Christianity does not depend only on the hierarchy but on the faithful. He expressed the hope that the bishops’ conferences of the new member countries of the European Union will become even more closely connected.

In response to a question on how much and in what manner the Church can help in the process of European integration, the president of the Croatian Conference of Bishops, Archbishop Cardinal Josip Bozanić of Zagreb, said that the Croatian Conference of Bishops and the Catholic Church in Croatia are open to cooperation regarding these processes and expressed the hope that this contribution is visible. He explained that the Croatian Conference of Bishops also cooperates with other bishops’ conferences and thereby establishes contacts with the governments of European countries. Asked about the commentary that the Church wants to affect the decisions of the Government and Parliament, the cardinal answered that when he visits parishes in the archdiocese, as well as cities and villages throughout Croatia, he does not experience criticisms from the people in this regard, and that there have been no more initiatives from the side of the Catholic Church now than there were during the mandate of the previous Government.

Archbishop Cardinal Peter Erdö of Esztergom-Budapest spoke about the Catholic schools in Hungary, of which there are over 300 today, while there were only eight during the communist regime. In 1992, the Hungarian Conference of Bishops established a Catholic university, which is financed by the Hungarian Government. Eight thousand students are enrolled in the five colleges of this university. Hungarian experiences in their schools, colleges and universities are positive. If a Catholic university were to be founded in Croatia, they would gladly promote cooperation and provide assistance. Regarding the establishment of a Catholic university in Croatia, Cardinal Bozanić said that this had been discussed at the last session of the Croatian Conference of Bishops. If the proposal passes at the next session, to be held in Zadar in October, it will go a step further immediately after the session.

Speaking about callings to the priesthood, Archbishop Seregely said that Croatia is in a better situation than Hungary because in that country parents do not allow their children to become priests. They have decided to accept only those into the priesthood who have a genuine priestly calling and will use catechists to assist in pastoral work.

In reference to pastoral work with Catholic Hungarians in Croatia and Catholic Croats in Hungary, Bishop Marin Srakić of Đakovo-Srijem said that the greatest problem regarding pastoral work with the Catholic Hungarians in Croatia is that there are not enough priests who are able to conduct Mass in the Hungarian language. He mentioned that according to the latest population census, 16,595 Hungarians live in Croatia and the largest number of Catholic Hungarians are in the territory of the Đakovo-Srijem Diocese. Msgr. Gejza Varga is the episcopal vicar for Hungarians, several priests speak Hungarian, and there are a few priests who are able to celebrate Mass in the Hungarian language although they do not speak it.