wfn.org | Hungary: Communicating Ecumenical Dialogues at Regional Levels

["Frank Imhoff" <FRANKI@elca.org>]

Difficulties in Reception Among Churches

BUDAPEST Hungary/GENEVA, 29 October 2001 (LWI) - Protestant and Roman
Catholic theologians together with churches in Hungary are currently
working intensively on how to communicate the results of ecumenical
international dialogues at the regional level.

During a forum organized by the faculty of Protestant theology in
Budapest on 18 October, Roman Catholic Bishop Mihaly Mayer from Pecs
called for a "continuing downward flow of information." The outcome
of dialogues by experts should be rendered comprehensible to ordinary
church members without any "leaps into the unknown," he said. Mayer
noted that at present it was easier to relate more closely on
social-ethical questions rather than on doctrinal differences like
the call for a shared Eucharist. Mayer is secretary for social ethics
in the Hungarian Bishops' Conference.

The Protestant side, mainly made up of Lutherans and Calvinists,
regretted the inadequate communication and implementation of
international dialogue approaches. Prof. Dr. Karoly Hafenscher,
ecumenical relations secretary, Evangelical Lutheran Church in
Hungary, admitted there had been "difficulties in reception." In
small Protestant churches the tone was set by traditionalists, as was
the case in the big Roman Catholic churches of central and eastern
Europe.

Lutheran Bishop Dr. Bela Harmati noted at the forum that different
churches in Europe had entered into an "unproductive contest between
theological dialogues," saying such talks should be better
coordinated and interpreted. This could be done in everyday church
life including regional theological faculties, instruction in schools
and at the congregational level.

Harmati is co-chairperson of the Lutheran/Roman Catholic Commission
on Unity, a dialogue commission of the Lutheran World Federation
(LWF) and the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity. He
sits on the LWF Executive Committee.

An ecumenical dialogue that embraces all traditional and free
churches in Hungary has been a focus for the Budapest faculty of
Protestant theology for years. Bishop Mayer welcomed the fact that
the institution, primarily intended for training pastors, had become
a meeting point for "interdenominational dialogue."

For Harmati, one of the most urgent concerns in Hungary is a need to
agree on a common "social pastoral letter," and he says Roman
Catholic politicians, economists and sociologists have frequently
declared their readiness to work with Protestants.

(By Gottfried Mierau, journalist in Vienna and Budapest.)

(The LWF is a global communion of Christian churches in the Lutheran
tradition. Founded in 1947 in Lund (Sweden), the LWF now has 133
member churches in 73 countries representing over 60.5 million of the
64.3 million Lutherans worldwide. The LWF acts on behalf of its
member churches in areas of common interest such as ecumenical
relations, theology, humanitarian assistance, human rights,
communication, and the various aspects of mission and development
work. Its secretariat is located in Geneva, Switzerland.)

[Lutheran World Information (LWI) is the information service of the
Lutheran World Federation (LWF). Unless specifically noted, material
presented does not represent positions or opinions of the LWF or of
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