informer of the feared Communist-era secret police, a historian and church official revealed Friday, February 3.
Documents released by the Hungarian weekly Elet es Irodalom (Life and Literature) Friday, February 3, show that Paskai compiled reports on Catholic Church members from 1965 to 1974 for the secret police, known for persecuting active Christians and dissidents.
Historian Krisztian Ungvary, who investigated his activities, wrote in Elet es Irodalom that Paskai worked under the pseudonym ‘Tanar’ (The Teacher).
Ungvary said Tanar "wrote mostly positive things about others," although in 1971 he reported on a parish priest "who expressed displeasure at having to write to the State Church Affairs Office." Paskai wrote his last report in May 1974, on Cardinal Jozsef Mindszenty, the one-time Primate of Hungary, imprisoned by the Communist regime in 1949-1956, according to the released documents. Analysts say cooperating with the regime was the only way for bishops to stay in their positions.
NO COMMENT
Speaking to reporters, Paskai did not deny the published allegations but said he could not comment as he was not familiar with all details. In a statement, Bishop András Veres, secretary of the Bench of Catholic Bishops, said however that the report also shows that the cardinal "displayed a benevolent approach towards those he had written about."
He stressed the "article did not come as a surprise" but added that "its timing is clearly politically inspired in several respects." Hungary has seen sharp divisions between center right parties, the traditional base of churches, and the ruling Socialist-Liberal coalition ahead of upcoming elections in April.
Already in August, 2001, Catholic Priest Gyorgy Bulanyi, who was persecuted under Communism, urged Laszlo Paskai, to confess his alleged links with the Communist authorities and the dreaded secret service, BosNewsLife established.
"Now that we are over the system-change, I say that they – and I shall say his name, Cardinal Paskai – should admit what happened," Bulanyi told Hungarian television at the time. "I have encouraged Paskai to confess, and he would be glorified by all of Hungarian society." he said. "We could cleanse all of Hungarian public life (and) the Hungarian Catholic clergy, if a confession were made to the effect that we danced to the tune of the party-state. But he has not done this…" Bulanyi said at the time.
VATICAN KNEW CONTROVERSY
Secret service documents leaked to the media suggest that even the Vatican no longer considered Paskai suitable to head the Hungarian Catholic Church, the country’s largest denomination with nearly 5.3 million members, over half the population. The documents suggest that the Vatican wanted to replace the Cardinal soon after the fall of Communism in 1989, BosNewsLife learned.
The 78-year-old cardinal, who was also a former archbishop of Esztergom-Budapest, was one of the cardinal electors who participated in the 2005 papal conclave that selected Pope Benedict XVI. He was followed by Peter Erdo in December 2002, which came into effect in October 2003.
Veres said the Conference of Hungarian Catholic Bishops has decided to set up a group of historical researchers "to explore the era when the church was persecuted by the Communist authorities, rather than to vet individuals."
Culture Minister Andras Bozoki told media in response to the recent revelations that Parliament should have passed a bill on informers in 1990, following the first democratic elections.
HUNGARY SPECIAL CASE
Unlike other former Warsaw Pact countries, Hungary did not reveal the names of secret police collaborators following the collapse of Communism in 1989, although a law enables the screening of church officials on their past links with the Communist regime on a voluntary basis.
There are however regular leaks, some unsubstantiated, revealing who worked for the secret services as an informer or in another capacity, and involving everyone from former prime ministers to journalists and football stars.
Last week, the Hungarian Oscar-winning film director Istvan Szabo confirmed news reports that he was an informer during his student days, although he claimed he cooperated with the secret service "in order to save the life of a classmate."
In 2002, then Socialist prime minister Peter Medgyessy was forced to admit after a leak that he had served as a counter-espionage officer under the communist regime. "I believe that at that time this served the interests of the country, I do not think that it was a mistake," he told BosNewsLife reporter in a 2002-interview. (With BosNewsLife News Center in Budapest and , BosNewsLife Research).
