PRESENT DAY RELIGIOUS PROBLEMS

IN HUNGARY.

BY PROFESSOR GEORGE BOROS, D.D., Kolozsvár.

N Hungary, religious and political systems were originally rooted in the fertile soil of liberty. The continuous history of one thousand years testifies that in this country nothing can have long life which is contrary to liberty. Before the great Church was split into eastern and western branches, just at the beginning of the eleventh century, Hungary's king received a crown from the Roman bishop, the Pope; and in acknowledgment accepted the Roman form of Christianity, though the Magyar race had 'a natural tendency towards the more rational Eastern religious thinking.' Several kings were adorned with the title 'Saint,' in acknowledgment of their services to Rome; but none after the Reformation. Hungary was a fertile ground for the most rational kind of reform. Unitarianism was not only accepted, but has been maintained ever since. Catholicism so completely lost supremacy in Transylvania, that for nearly two hundred years she had no regular bishop there.

Great changes in politics caused a transformation in the Church. The long roll of native kings ceased, and the Habsburg dynasty which gained the throne was always most zealously Catholic, and secured all possible advantages for that Church. Protestantism suffered tremendous losses; but the purely Magyar population never deserted Protestant liberalism, and as soon as liberal thought, from France and Germany, entered the field, a reawakening began which will never be stopped again. The first half of the nineteenth century secured liberty in politics and in literature; and, as a natural result of these two, Unitarianism in 1848 was acknowledged as a State religion for the whole of Hungary, having equal rights with the Roman Catholic and Protestant Churches. The second half of the nineteenth century shows a very attractive picture of progress in education and in science, as well as in religious reform. This movement was crowned in 1896 by the Bill of Religious Freedom, which secured freedom and tolerance for every religious sect, and even for those who do not wish to belong to churches of any kind.

The spirit of liberty and the acknowledged power of State legislation were most conspicuously manifested in 1897 in the Civil Marriage Law. The Roman Catholic Church was most seriously affected. The usage of nine hundred years, and all the influence attending it, were at once taken out of her hands. No wonder that she has taken up the defensive position, opening a strong and fearless

fight all along the line. This reactionary movement is led by the higher priesthood and by some of the richest families of the country. They gain considerable support from Austria and also from Rome.

When the Civil Marriage Law was passed, the Government was in the strong hands of a Protestant Prime Minister; but still the reactionary party succeeded in placing a rich young Count in the Transylvanian Roman Catholic Episcopal Chair. This was very important, because Transylvania has always been the stronghold of religious freedom, and now the new leader carries on his work with the intention to gather all the lost sheep back to the Church. The clergy are, indeed, more active than ever. Jesuits now find their way to places where four or five different denominations were living a most peaceful life together. The result, however, is not equivalent to the energy exerted. Their influence hardly reaches beyond the circle of sensitive womanhood.

The most encouraging feature is that the State authorities continue their work in strengthening liberal tendencies. Protestant ministers, who used to be very poorly paid, now receive considerable aid and support from the State's treasury.

It may seem curious that, in discussing a religious subject, we are dealing with political and ecclesiastical questions; but here and now the foremost question is still the consolidation of a national Magyar State. We have not yet surmounted the