HUNGARY
558
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rejected by the Upper House and finally withdrawn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
