Hungarian church-state relationships, a socio-historical analysis

grantor: University of TorontoThe primary goal of this socio-historical analysis is to provide a thorough account of Hungarian church-state relations. Beginning with a broad investigation of sociologists' failure to develop a comprehensive theoretical framework for studying church-state relations, the study suggests that this is due to a preoccupation with definitional difficulties and the processes of secularization and globalization. Following this, a review of relevant literature is undertaken in order to generate a set of analytical questions, which are applied in a case study of Hungarian church-state relations from 896 C. E. to the present day. Subsequent chapters discuss these relations in four distinct historical periods in which the shifting balance of power between the sacred and the secular is a central issue of both political and religious importance. Special attention is devoted to the significant intertwining of church and state during the Communist era, a situation fundamentally at odds with official government ideology and policy. An attempt is also made to explore post-Communist church-state relations in an effort to formulate some tentative predictions for the future. In this context, particular emphasis is placed upon the pivotal role of the middle class in the reconstruction of civil society and the crucial importance of the churches in a dangerous period of increasing nationalist rhetoric. A Hungarian case study suggests the need to modify two important sociological accounts of different aspects of church-state relations. David Martin's explanation (1978) of the role of established churches within societies under external threat is adjusted to fit the denominationally mixed character of Hungarian society. Similarly, Mary Gautier's analysis (1998) of the respective roles of church and state elites in the restructuring of civil society is reformulated on the basis of Hungarian evidence.Ph.D