The Second Vatican Council is the single most influential event in the twentieth-century history of the Catholic Church. The book analyzes the relationship between the Council and the "Ostpolitik" of the Vatican through the history of the Hungarian presence at Vatican II. Pope John XXIII, elected in 1958, was a catalyst. He thought that his most urgent task was to renew contacts with the Church behind the iron curtain. Hungarian participation at the Council was also made possible by the new pragmatic attitude in Hungarian church politics. After the crushing of the 1956 Revolution, churches in Hungary thought that the regime would last and were willing to compromise. Hungary did not consider Vatican II primarily an ecclesiastical event. It was considered a component of the negotiations between the Holy See and the Kadar regime: during the Council Hungary became the experimental laboratory of the Vatican's new eastern policy. Was it a Vatican decision or a Soviet instruction? Fejerdy suggests that it was a decision of the Holy See.
Foreword Preface List of Abbreviations Cronology Introduction Part I.-The (Ante-) Preparatory Phase of the Council (1959-1962) 1. The Holy See 1.1. John XXIII and the Council 1.2. The supreme pontiffs and Communism 1.3. The Holy See and Hungary 1.4. Efforts to ensure Hungarian participation in the Council 2.The Hungarian People's Republic 2.1. A shift in ecclesiastical policy 2.2. The place of the Holy See in Hungarian ecclesiastical policy 2.3. The Hungarian People's Republic and the issue of Council attendance 2.4. A decision is reached in Hungary 3. The Catholic Church in Hungary 3.1. The state of the Hungarian Catholic Church in the period of preparations 3.2. Hungarian council recommendations 3.3. The Hungarian bishops and the question of Council attendance 3.3.1. Expectations for the Council Part II.-Hungary and the Holy See during the Second Vatican Council (1962-1959) 1. The Holy See: Council and Ostpolitik 1.1. The Second Vatican Council and the Catholic Church: Ecclesia ad intra 1.2. The council and humanity: Ecclesia ad extra 1.3. Vatican Ostpolitik at the time of the Council 1.3.1. The theoretical bases of the emerging eastern policy 1.3.2. The spheres of Vatican Ostpolitik 1.4. Modus non moriendi in Hungary 1.4.1. The road to Vatican-Hungarian negotiations 1.4.2. The partial agreement of 1964 2. The Hungarian People's Republic: Council and "Vatican policy" 2.1. The means of achieving total control 2.1.1. Monitoring Hungarian participants at the Council 2.1.2. Domestic control 2.2. Goals to be achieved through attendance at the Council 2.2.1. Intelligence gathering 2.2.2. Socialist "country image" and "useful relations" 2.2.3. The suppression of the "conservative-integrist wing" 2.2.4. The "support of positive forces" 3. Controlled feedom: The Hungarian Catholic Church and the Second Vatican Council 3.1. The council delegation 3.1.1. Council fathers in Rome and in Hungary 3.1.2. The delegation's travel, accommodations and expenses 3.1.3. The internal relations of the Hungarian delegation 3.2. Hungarian contributions to the work of the Council 3.2.1. A passive presence 3.2.2. Hungarian interventions and proposals 3.3. Negotiations with the Holy See 3.3.1. Negotiating sides 3.3.2. Major subjects of negotiation 3.3.3. Reinforcing loyalty to Rome Part III.-Epilogue: After the Council 1. Holy See: Dialogue and Ostpolitik 1.1. Dialogue after the Council 1.2. The Holy See and Hungary after the Council 1.2.1. Vatican Ostpolitik after the Council 1.2.2. Vatican eastern policy in Hungary 2. The Hungarian People's Republic 2.1. Political appraisal of the Second Vatican Council 2.2. The reception of the Council by the state in Hungary 3. Hungarian Church 3.1. Learning about the Council 3.2. Practical reception 3.3. Theological reception Summary Sources and Bibliography 1. Sources 1.1. Archival sources 1.2. Printed sources 2. Bibliography Annex 1. Hungarian participants in the Second Vatican Council and their escorts 2. Hungarian Council Fathers de iure and de facto 3. Hungarian contributions to the work of the Council 4. Biographical data on the principal persons mentioned in the book Index
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