Rift deepens between Hungarian churches and government

As the school year in Hungary begins, the country's church-owned schools are facing renewed difficulties due to cuts in state supports, leading to a growing number of closures and mergers, writes privatbankar.hu. Meanwhile, some religious leaders are accusing the Socialist-led government of deliberately trying to create the impression among the Hungarian people that the church is the "enemy."

According to Sister Erzsébet M. Eszter Bajzák, head of the Catholic Institute for Pedagogical Organization and Further Education, the church is unlikely to find alternative resources to make up for an expected 10% in present funding levels from the state to Catholic-run schools. To date, the church has not been forced to close schools, but has merged some institutions. Overall, the Catholic Church currently operates 191 educational institutions serving 52,000 students, or 4% of those in the Hungarian educational system.

The Country's leading Protestant denomination (Református) runs 109 educational institutions with 30,400 students, and employs 2,500 teachers. It says it has been forced to close down two art schools and lay off 50-100 employees due to financial hardships as a result of declining state support.

Despite this, the pinch is not being felt by all church-run schools. The Evangelical Church ( Evangélikus) has not yet had to close or consolidate any schools, and recently opened a kindergarten in Hódmezővásárhely and a primary school in Szombathely. The church employs approximately 1,000 teachers, and educate 11,000 students, said Zoltán Mihályné, head of the church's educational department.

Meanwhile, leaders of the Hungarian Reformed (Református) Church are accusing the Socialist-led government of launching a political and PR campaign to demonize Hungary's leading churches, and even to create unrest similar to that which rocked Hungary in October of last year, according to inforadio.hu.

The portal writes that both Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsány and the churches condemn examples of "extremist" actions in Hungary - like the recent creation of the far-right Hungarian Guard - but the historical Christian churches blame the PM and his government for creating the current situation.

The churches have said that they distanced themselves from the Hungarian Guard, but that their actions have been misrepresented by the Education and Culture Ministry. The Reformed Church's parishioners are generally considered to lean to the right politically.

"It is most disturbing that in the last five days there has been an institutional misdirection from the real problems, in particular the last year's affairs," wrote Bishop Gusztáv Bölcskei, president of the Reformed Church's synod, in a communiqué. The church has said it is willing to cooperate with the government to solve the "real problems" of society, such as shortcomings in the healthcare and education systems.

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