A presidential mother’s pardon

Hungarian president Katalin Novák granted presidential pardon to Endre K., who was sentenced for covering up the sexual abuse of children at the welfare institution he led.

The pope knows where he’s going and that’s why he comes

Catholic church leader pope Francis I will spend three days in Hungary at the end of April. While some Hungarians believe the government’s policies are at odds with Catholic teachings and the pope wouldn’t visit if he knew, he does know, and that’s actually why he comes. The Hungarian Fidesz-government has developed an effective long-termContinue

Also abuse survivors may go on to become priests

After a Hungarian court ruled that an abuse victim was guilty of stalking because he repeatedly called an office of the Catholic Church in Hungary to find out about the result of his case, a Catholic priest widely known for his youtube channel “Papi frankó” (“Priestly French”, ca. as in ‘Pardon my French”) came forwardContinue

Guilty of Wanting to Know

Do you remember the case of Attila Pető, who was reprimanded by the court because a few years ago he dared to send six mails and repeatedly phone the Roman Catholic Diocese in order to get information about the result of the procedure that was initiated after he had placed a complaint with the churchContinue

Another victim in the dock

Another abuse victim was recently sentenced to paying 1 million forint (around 2500 euros) for damages. The victim had shared his abuse only with relevant Church authorities.

The victim in the dock

A victim of sexual abuse by a Catholic priest was reprimanded by the court for repeatedly phoning a Church office number.

Pilgrims take over students’ beds in dormitories

Students can’t move into their dormitories and will miss lectures as their rooms are needed to give free accommodation for Catholic religious tourists.

Religious Affiliation in Hungary

One way to assess how strong the connectionection of Hungarians to religious communities is is to have a look at the “second 1%” of the personal income tax. Taxpayers in Hungary can dedicate 1% of their income tax to a civil organisation and a second 1% to a religious community or to a heading ofContinue

Putting Creationism in the Hungarian Constitution

While the amendment to the Hungarian basic law proposed by minister of justice Judit Varga last week has been (rightly) interpreted as aiming against homosexual couples applying for adoption and against LGBTQ*, not enough attention has been paid to the fact that the proposed amendment of the Hungarian constitution is expressis verbis based on creationismContinue

Facts and Figures 2013

2011 census shows a sharp decline in religious affiliation (for a detailed discussion and earlier census data click here) as compared to 2001: 39% of the population identify as Catholic (Greek Catholics included), 11,6% as Calvinists, 2% as Lutherans, 0,11% as Jewish, 1,7% as other, and 18,2 have no affiliation (atheists included). 27,2% of theContinue