Stubborn Adversary

Hungary's Communists have done their best to crush the Roman Catholic Church. They have seized 600 convents and monasteries and 3,000 Catholic schools. Within the ranks of the clergy, the clique of 100-odd so-called "peace priests" loyal to the regime keep up a steady propaganda, urging priests to genuflect to the Communist line. Recently the regime stepped up the pressure. The time had come, the clergy was told in a pro-regime church paper, "for every Catholic priest to consider what political and social position he would adopt in the future." Last week eleven Catholics went on trial in Budapest on charges of trying to set up "an elite Catholic youth corps" to overthrow the government.

Ten of the defendants had been well softened beforehand and declared their "deep repentance" for their "crimes." But Father Oden Lenard astonished the court by pleading innocent. In Hungary, judges are not used to this defiance. Judge Istvan Bimbo turned to the other defendants and asked if they thought Father Lenard was guilty. All ten said yes. Then Judge Bimbo turned back to Father Lenard.

Q. Why did you fail to respect the directives of the government regarding the activities of priests?

A. I accept only the directives of my archbishop [Cardinal Mindszenty, who ever since the 1956 revolt has been a refugee in the U.S. legation], and he is not now in a position to give me directives.

Q. You are accused of having secretly taught religion to young people.

A. Today many people are subject to strong pressure, and dare not openly send their children to classes on religion. As a result, I decided to teach them privately. I cannot understand why the Gospel should not be explained privately, when there is nothing to prevent one from giving private lessons on other subjects, such as music.

Q. You hid a theology book in a divan?

A. I know of no law that forbids one to hide theology books in divans.

Q. What do you think of theology students who do not want to listen to lessons on Marxism?

A. There are many Marxists who refuse to go to church.

Q. You have exerted influence hostile to the state on 300 young people.

A. Only on 70, as far as I remember.

At this point, Judge Bimbo abruptly recessed the trial. He later handed down a 7 1/2-year jail sentence for Father Lenard and terms ranging from 2 1/2 to seven years for the other ten defendants. By Hungarian standards, that sounded moderate enough. The question was whether Lenard would ever see the end of his sentence or would, like many other zealous Hungarian Catholics before him, mysteriously die in jail.

But Father Lenard's defiant colloquy with the judge was vivid testimony to the fact that the Christian faith is a stubborn adversary, even for Communism's ruthless men. Upon news of the arrests, Budapest's Archbishop Joseph Grosz, acting head of the Hungarian clergy, fired off a letter to the government. "If the arrested priests are guilty," he said, "then I, too, must be guilty. Arrest me and put me in prison with my friends." Prudently, the government chose to ignore the dare.

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