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 HUNGARY

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HUNGARY

caused by the passing of Art. XI of 1879; it enacted that the reception into another religious denomina- tion, in so far as it was contrary to Art. LIII of 1S6S, was subject to legal penalty. The difficulties arising from the interpretation of this law last<'<l for a long time. In 1883 a bill on the marriage of Catholics and Jews was laid before the Parliament, but was twice rejected by the Upper House and finally withdrawn by the Government. The ministry of Koloman Tisza, which lasted longer (1875-89) than any other since 1867, inflicted further damage upon the Catholic Church. Protestantism spread in all directions and received active support from the Government. The revision of the constitution of the Upper House (House of Magnates) in 1885 (.Art. VII) excluded Catholic auxiliary bishops from member.ship, with the exception of the .Auxiliary Bishops of Nandor- Fehervar and Knin (Tinin). According to this law, the dignitaries of the Catholic Church, both of the I-atin and Greek Rites, entitled to membership in the

Be.sedictine Abbey. Tihany, HiN(^ary

Upper House since that time are the prince-primate and the other archbishops and diocesan bishops, the Auxiliary Bishops of Niindor-Fehervar and Knm, the Archabbot of Pannonhalma (Martinsberg), the Provost of Jaszo (Premonstratensian Order), anil the Prior of .\uranien: the representatives of the Ortho- dox Greek Church are the Patriarch of Karlocza (Kar- lowitz), the Metropolitan of Gyula-Feh('>rviir (Karls- burg), and the diocesan bishops; of the Protestant Churches, their highest clerical and lay dignitaries.

In the first years of the last decade of the nineteenth century a far-reaching movement threatened the Church in Hungary. An ecclesiastico-political con- flict began, caused' by the decree of the Miixister of Education and Public Worship, Count Csdky. This decree provided that any priest who performed a bap- tism according to Art. LIII of 18f)8 must send a certifi- cate of bapti.sm to the legally responsilile clergyman within eight days. Neglect to obey this law was to be considered a misdemeanour, and jninished accordingly. This decree, called the Wcf/taufung Decree (baptism away from the other si<le) marked the beginning of a new ecclesiastico-political conflict. According to this edict a Catholic priest when he baptized a child belonging to another faith must .send the certificate of baptism to the minister of the other denomination; such an enactment was regarded by the Catholic clergy as contrary to conscience and the canonical ordinances. The bishops did not order that the law

be carried out, although they declared that for a time it could be tolerated; the greater part of the parish priests, however, refused to obey it. A Catholic agitation for the modification in the interest of the Chiu'ch of Art. LIII of 1.S6S, and for the repeal of the decree issued by Cs;iky, did not succeed, while the supporters of the Go\'ernment soon made use of the movement to further the introduction of obligatory civil marriage, civil registration, and the free exercise of religion. These latter proposals became law during the premiership of Alexantler Wekerle. In 189:5 the ecclesiastical bills were laid before the Diet, and after long debates, being once rejected by the House of Magnates, they became law in 1894 and took effect 1 October, 1895. Articles XXXI and XXXIII of 1894 contain enactments regarding marriage and registration. Civil marriage is made compulsory, and government recognition is only given to civil registration. Article XXXII of 1894 enacts that the parents can enter into an agreement before the regis- trar as to the religion of the children. Registrars are appointed by the minister of the interior and are responsible to him; a parish priest cannot lie ap- pointed to this ofiice. The Hungarian bishops pro- tested against these laws and sent a memorial to the king requesting him not to sanction them; they were, however, unsuccessful. Article XLII of 1895 gave official recognition to the Jewish religion; at the same time the right to belong to no confession was granted. .\ Kultuikampf did not, as had been feared, follow the passage of the ecclesiastico-political laws. Never- theless, they led to the formation of a Catholic par- liamentary party, the People's Party {Vdlk.sjiartei), which made the revision of the ecclesiastico-political laws the chief measure of their programme. As early as the election for members of the Diet which followed the taking effect of these laws, the Pi ople's Party nominated candidates and up to the parlia- mentary election of 1906 it hail 3.3 adherents among the members of the Lower House. The large ]ir<>- portions which the Catholic movement assumed in Hungary are due to this party. Catholic a.'isoeialions were founded in all parts of the land, and finally a vmion was formed which embraced the entire country. This reawakened Catholic consciousness led to the holding of national Catholic Congresses, which have now met for a number of years. These congresses have aided greatly in the strengthening and promul- gation of Catholic opinions. The efforts of the Church in Hungary to gain autonomy for the protection of Catholic interests, especially in regard to the admin- istration of Catholic foundations and schools, have so far been unsuccessful. The Diet of 1791 granted autonomy to the Protestants, but the Catholics neg- lected, at that time, to secure the same for themselves. It was not until 1848 that the first steps in this direc- tion were taken by the holding of an episcopal con- ference to discuss the question. Nothing, however, resulted from these efforts, and the (Hiickly following outbreak of the Revolution put the matter aside for the time being, nor was the question brought up during the period of absolutism, .\fter the restora- tion of constitutional government the question of the autonomy of the Church was again raised, and in 1867 the bishops had a plan drawn up, which in 1868 was laid before a large assemljly. In 1870 a congress for the promotion of autonomy was called, and a com- mission appointed which in 1.S7I iiresented its first report. According to the plan it outlined there were to be formed a national congress and an admin- istrative council. The national congress was to be under the guidance of the prince primate; subor- dinate to the congress were to be the diocesan con- ventions with a diocesan senate; below, there were to be the decanal and district senates, following which were the communal assemblies and the parishes. The incorporated autonomy council was to represent