A Century of Christian Youth Movements in Hungary

Youth movements are a new phenomenon in the history of Christianity. There were many movements with a goal, most often for reforming the Church and for returning to the roots, like the Gregorian movement of Saint Pope Gregory VII, the Cistercian movement, the conciliar movement or the Reformation itself. But all of those had a goal. Modern movements can also have a goal, but sometimes their aim is simply organising people, for the sake of community – as said in the English world, with some Leftist taste, that is “community organising”.¹ Before the Reformation, even before the Enlightenment and the Industrial Revolution, organising youth (or anybody else) for the sake of community was unknown. Some saints tried to collect and teach poor children, like Joseph Calasanz, the founder of the Piarist Order in the 16th century, or Saint John Bosco in the 19th century; but their main goal was education, not building a community. Religious orders are very similar to youth movements in the sense that their aim is community with one another and communion with God, but they are not for the youth, and maybe everybody understands without explanation that somehow it is strange to call them a movement.

Modern youth movements within Christianity can be seen as a response to secularisation and alienation (caused by urbanisation and industrialisation): as Christianity was disappearing from ordinary life, local and top Church leaders recognised that if they wanted to keep the youth in the Faith, they needed to give them an everyday presence of it for two reasons: without a community of Faith it is hard to live it and even to know it (regardless of religiosity, we can confirm that the basic knowledge of Christian culture is also fading away from public life); and without friends who act and live the same way, Christianity will not be “cool”. Being Christian alone is a hard thing, especially when someone is young.

The vast majority of recent “spiritual movements” or “spiritualities”, having distinct “charismas”, style and emphasis, started after 1960; although the “movement- boom” was not dominantly Catholic, affecting most of Christian churches. Maybe we can say that the symbolic event, which marked their start, was the Second Vatican Council. The reform of the attitude (not the doctrine) of the Catholic Church from within inspired fresh ideas about how to realise Christian life in a more and more secular civilisation; and more recently, in some cases, the so-called “Spirit of Council” has caused growing of the faith.

Historically Actio Catholica was the most important Catholic movement in Hungary, as well as all over the world, although not for the youth. Founded by Pope Pius XI in 1922, it was the only one recognisable Catholic movement between the First World War and the Second Vatican Council.² In Hungary it was established by the Catholic Bishops’ Conference in 1932 and worked officially even until 1990, under Communism. It was strictly overseen by the hierarchy; its task was involving more intensively the Catholic laity into the life and work of the Church in every aspect.

THE MOST HISTORICAL MOVEMENTS: SCOUTS, REGNUM, KALOT AND KALÁSZ

There are two traditional Christian youth movements, which have a significant history and are also recognisably alive today: scouting and Regnum Marianum. Scouting is well-known even for the wider public in Hungary. Founded by Lord Baden-Powell at the beginning of the 20th century, it attracts 40 million members worldwide, focusing on training the youth both physically and mentally. It has a strict hierarchy and a special focus on exploring nature and practical knowledge for survival. Scouting is ecumenical today, although it does not have such a heavy emphasis on religion in the US. Hungarian scouting started in 1910 in Nagybecskerek (today Zrenjanin in Serbia), and one of its most prominent members was Prime Minister Pál Teleki. After the Communists took power, they imposed their Pioneer movement, and scouting went to exile, coming back to Hungary after the fall of the Communist regime. Today scouting is still vivid, attracting approximately ten thousand young people. The Hungarian Scout Association in Exteris was established in 1989, organising thousands of Hungarians abroad, especially in the US and Canada. It is less religious (still it is religious), and more focused on community building and Hungarian traditions and identity.

The Regnum Marianum Community (referred to as Regnum by the Catholic public) is a solely Hungarian movement. It started in 1898, when nine Catholic priests formed a congregation in Budapest, named after the Virgin Mary, and decided to look after the youth. Their mentor was Ottokár Prohászka, later bishop of Székesfehérvár and a famous orator. The Bishop of Transylvania, Gusztáv Majláth bought a house for them in Budapest in 1901, which became their centre with a small chapel in its court. Regnum organised trips, camps, workshops, and published some magazines for boys, girls and small children. One of them, Zászlónk (Our Flag) still exists nowadays, serving as the official magazine for Regnum. Communists “nationalised” the house of Regnum in 1951, and forced bishops to send its priests to parishes. The movement built a church (named Magna Domina Hungarorum) on the edge of Városliget park in 1925, which was blown up and demolished by the Rákosi regime in 1951 to free up space for a monumental statue of Stalin (pulling down the hated symbol was one of the big moments of the 1956 Revolution). The community kept operating in secret groups. Under the Communist dictatorship officials tried to force the movement to stop its activities: there were three fake trials (1961, 1965, 1971), 13 priests and three laymen leaders were condemned to jail. Despite continuous harassment it managed to survive underground throughout the Communist years, and was able to return to the public sphere after 1990. Officially it restarted itself in 1991. It has its own kind of structure, organising the youth into “layers” by age groups. It is built up of local groups; its network is mostly established in Budapest and in the agglomeration of the capital, but there is also a considerable community in the western city of Sopron. It has a three-semester leaders’ training called Patkoló (Horseshoeing), and a two-semester long Műhely (Workshop). Local groups meet on a regular basis, usually week by week. They have a senior leader until their graduation from secondary school, and meetings are normally held at the local parish. However, Regnum does not end with graduation, every senior member has a place in the community: members with families usually meet in private homes. The main event of the year is a nomadic tent camp in summer organised around a framework story. There are large generational camps held in every five or ten years for an entire age group, with some hundred participants; and there is a distinct camp for 17-year-olds every year as a closing event for the youth years in Regnum. Also every group participates in a retreat at least once a year. Summer ends with the Leaders’ Meeting with 150 participants at the end of August. The main celebration of the entire community is held on 8 December (Feast of the Immaculate Conception), and they also hold a more informal gathering called Regnum Picnic in spring. Regnum has three to four thousand members, 30 priests, and two bishops are closely linked to it. The main emphasis is on community plays, hiking and prayer.³

There are some other historically more established spiritual movements, but their recent significance is not so manifest. KALOT (Katolikus Agrárifjúsági Legényegyesületek Országos Testülete [National Association of Catholic Agrarian Lads]) and KALÁSZ (Katolikus Asszonyok és Lányok Szövetsége [Alliance of Catholic Women and Maiden]) organised the young people of the villages separately between the two World Wars. KALOT was founded by Jenő Kerkai SJ, KALÁSZ by Rita Luczenbacher and Andrea Stettner. Although Catholicism was dominant, KALOT was intentionally interdenominational. Their purpose was education, preservation of folk traditions and Christian morality, and also preparation for social life, including teaching young men socially important activities like billiards, card games and chess. KALOT and KALÁSZ were considered to be in harmony with the 1930s “third way” movement, which aimed at studying rural life, especially that of the poor; KALOT firmly opposed the Nazi ideology and the Arrow Cross Movement (the Hungarian far-right). Despite these efforts Communist Minister of the Interior László Rajk dissolved both movements in 1946 (just like the scouts). Kerkai was condemned to jail in 1949, and many of the leaders were also sentenced or deported. Former members of KALOT organised a reunion in 1982, and reorganised the movement in 1988, which got back its old name in 1992.⁴ It went through a large reform in 2000. Another KALOT was established in Transylvania, at the Hungarian National Shrine of Csíksomlyó, in 2004. KALÁSZ was reorganised in 1989, and has actually a thousand members, focusing on feminine virtues and Christian womanhood. It organises groups within parishes and holds summer camps. Its most original idea is the Ten Villages – One Table initiative, when one parish invites the other nine for a one-day common celebration.

ENDLESS SUMMER: BOGÁR

The third largest current Catholic spiritual movement in Hungary beside scouts and Regnum is Szentjánosbogár (Firefly), which started in the second part of the 80s at the town of Dunakeszi (near Budapest); although “Bogár”, as members refer to it more informally, does not like to call itself a “movement”, but prefers the word “community”.⁵ It was started by ten young families who recognised that the spiritual environment of their children at school was more and more indifferent or even hostile to Christianity, and tried to ease this problem not by sectarian separation, but by forming a countercultural community for them. They formed a club and published a small monthly magazine for the children. Then a Hungarian Jesuit, P. Szabolcs Sajgó, who came home from Toronto to edit the Order’s magazine, A Szív (Saint Heart), was informed about the existence of the little community of Dunakeszi and their periodical, and asked them to help him creating the youth pages of A Szív. This column engaged in active correspondence with readers and became known nationwide. The club organised its first summer camp in 1991 for readers; the topic was journalism. Although the organisers did not want to create a tradition, attendees asked for a sequel in next summer. That was 26 years ago, and today the movement organises six summer camps for children (for little kids over 8 and for teenagers), two for the young (age 17–21), one for people above 21 (Leaders’ Camp), and another one for those who already have children (Families’ Camp). There are two “after-parties” (called “Swarming”) in September in Budapest and Szeged, because these cities are the main hubs of the movement.

However there is no official membership for Bogár: it is one of the most informal movements. This informality is rooted in the philosophy and pedagogy of the community, which puts great emphasis on volunteering and prefers personal involvement to external pressure. The “Bogár pedagogy” is based on love and game pedagogy, and avoids punishment as far as possible, preferring personal persuasion; the philosophy of the movement is based on Must, not on Have To. Bogár believes that there is Good in every person, and that is what we have to emphasise instead of the Bad. That is why they organise musical- literary evenings in the camps, where everybody can perform without any quality requirements. Camps anyway are carefully organised; people there are presented a framework theme, which is discussed in small groups with various methods, involving drama pedagogy and many types of activity. They are held in villages or small towns, where the community is invited by the local parish. Attendees are accommodated at local families, because Bogár does not want to separate itself from the rest of the society and seeks always to be involved in the life of the parish. Two balls (one in spring and one in autumn) are organised every year, and they also have local clubs. Those for children have a young leader, but those for the youth are gatherings of equal members without official leaders. Szentjánosbogár pays attention also to mental health, offering many opportunities to its members, for example various psychological trainings, although not on a regular basis. The activities of the movement are organised by its board and task-oriented teams (Team of the Ball, Teams for Writing Camp Topics, Team of Clubs, etc.). Since Bogár is closely cooperating with the Jesuits, it is characterised by an Ignatian spirituality; despite being a Catholic organisation, it also has Protestant and non-religious members. Its charismatic founder was the Polish translator Teresa Worowska,⁶ while spiritual leadership belongs to P. Szabolcs Sajgó. The size of the membership is rather uncertain because of its informal nature, but it can be estimated at a thousand with a small active youth leadership.⁷ Their Game Book and Book of Camp Themes can be useful for everybody.⁸

Scouts, Regnum and Szentjánosbogár form together a roundtable to coordinate operations and to exchange experiences; many of their members have double memberships, but all of the movements preserve their own distinctive character.

Antiochia communities were developed and started in the 60s at the University of Notre Dame in the US by Jesuit fathers. These are communities for 16–24 years old youth within Catholic parishes. Local communities recruit new members at their Antiochia Weekends. The first was held in 1995 in Hungary; recently they are present in the life of many parishes throughout the country. Antiochia puts emphasis on parish life, sacraments and personal attachment to faith.⁹

Communities meet on a weekly basis for prayer and also organise other activities. The very influential Neocatechumenal Way is also present in Hungary since 1983. Formed in Madrid in 1964 by Kiko Argüello and Carmen Hernández, it is particularly popular in Poland. Kiko Argüello was invited to Budapest for public worship by Cardinal Péter Erdő. This invitation was seen by some as unexpected, considering the unorthodox liturgical “style” of the Way, which is usually not welcomed by the Hungarian cardinal. The Way, which attracts hundreds of young people in Hungary, had already 34 communities at 16 parishes in 2006, and is similar to the Charismatic Movement in the sense that it strictly follows the doctrine of the Church, but shows human creativity regarding liturgical life. Being faithful to the doctrine sometimes means very strict moral exigencies, which notwithstanding prove to be attractive among the youth. But there are two controversial aspects of the history of the Neocatechumenate. First: their liturgical innovations (meant to implement the Spirit of Council), like mass Communion, are highly criticised because priests regularly cannot handle the Body and Blood of Christ in an appropriate, dignified way. These liturgical problems were subject to inquiry under the papacy of Benedict XVI. Second: the movement often forms a strictly separated community within the parish, celebrating even the Eucharist separately from the parish community. Because of this divisive attitude Japanese bishops asked the entire movement to leave their country in 2010 for five years.¹⁰

Despite these concerns the Way is an influential youth movement.

There is a very interesting youth movement inside the Diocese of Vác. A chapel was renovated in the village of Tápiószentmárton in 1987, whose dedication was an occasion for a youth summer camp, ending up very successfully. Monthly meetings followed, and finally the Virgin Mary Community of the Region of the Tápió River was born. Today there are six other Virgin Mary Communities formed on the example of the Tápió Region, each of them named after a river (regions along rivers are called “mente” in Hungarian, for example “Tápiómente” means “along the Tápió River”), covering the whole area of the diocese. However, these mentes are not considered to form a distinct “spirituality”, or a distinct, uniformed structure by ecclesial law; they are adapted to the parish life and organised on a geographic basis. They claim to be Eucharistic, devoted to Saint Mary, searching for the Kingdom of God and inspired by the Holy Spirit. They organise yearly camps and smaller periodic meetings, usually five or six per year.¹¹

One of the youngest communities within the Hungarian Catholic Church is Juventutem Hungary, which is part of the Foederatio Internationalis Juventutem, devoted to the extraordinary form of the Mass, also known as the Tridentine Rite, and to liturgical education. Placed under the leadership of FSSP, Priestly Fraternity of Saint Peter (distinct from SSPX, Society of Saint Pius X), it is officially open to anybody between 18 and 35, although it also admits older people who are “young at heart”. The Hungarian community is relatively small, centred in Budapest, but deploys a remarkable activity also in other cities; its membership consists mainly of young families with little children. The lay leader of the Hungarian community, Bertalan Kiss became the president of the whole international branch at the end of February 2016.¹² The other worldwide youth movement devoted to the Tridentine Mass, Una Voce does not have a Hungarian branch yet.

The simply named Catholic Youth Movement, formed in 1989 as a response to the encouragement coming from the youth rapporteur of the Archdiocese of Esztergom–Budapest, is rather an official organisational body within the Church. It is working on various fields, organising many pilgrimages and gatherings, among which the most important are the visits to international Taizé gatherings, or the Meeting of Charismas, held at Pentecost at the Shrine of Máriaremete (Buda).

CALVINISTS AND LUTHERANS

The Calvinist Soli Deo Gloria Reformed Students’ Movement was formed by young Calvinist theologians in 1921 and was dissolved in 1949 by the Communists. Every confirmed Calvinist can be a member of it. Today SDG includes many secondary school and university groups, organises various meetings, trainings, lectures and festivals. SDG puts emphasis on pedagogy centred on God, family values, national traditions, environmental and health awareness.¹³

The Calvinist Youth Alliance (Református Fiatalok Szövetsége, REFISZ) was founded in 1989 for the evangelisation of the youth. They work on local, regional and national level, mainly in local congregations, and organise various kinds of gatherings and camps. There are some other Calvinist initiatives: Youth Mission of the Region of Tiszáninnen (Tiszáninneni Ifjúsági Misszió), and Bible Association, whose aim is educating children and youth about the Bible, taking into account their special pedagogical needs. Bible Association was founded in 1993 as part of the international Scripture Union (founded in 1867), and organises 18 summer camps per year, attracting 400 children.¹⁴ There are also Calvinist university ministries and university congregations, and neighbouring countries with considerable Hungarian minorities also have Hungarian Calvinist Youth movements (Slovakia, Ukraine, Romania). The biggest nationwide Calvinist summer festival is Csillagpont (Starpoint).¹⁵

The Lutheran Youth Association of Hungary (Magyarországi Evangélikus Ifjúsági Szövetség, MEVISZ) was formed in 1988. Its activities are based on specialised workshops or teams (worship, family life, book publishing, care for disabled people, etc.). One of them, together with the Youth Commission of the Hungarian Lutheran Church, has been organising the national Lutheran summer festival, called Szélrózsa, since 1996.¹⁶ MEVISZ also organises many summer camps, exactly seven in 2016. Since MEVISZ gives high priority to working with disabled people they set up summer camps for the disabled and their helpers, and also for the blind and the mentally disabled. The community maintains a holiday house in the village of Kemenesfalva for those with special needs and their helpers, and is trying to create a project house called Esztus-ház, where the disabled and not disabled could live together.

Many hold a picture about spiritual movements as gathered believers holding their hands in the air with their eyes closed, and singing religious songs in an ecstatic state. Although this image does not apply to many movements, its model appeared at the time of the Second Vatican Council. This is the Charismatic Movement, emerging around 1960 among Protestants and around 1967 among Catholics. It professes the possibility of having charismas, endowments of supernatural origin, like in Biblical times. This means that the gifts of the Holy Spirit as described in the New Testament are available to contemporary Christians through baptism, with or without the laying on of hands. There are nine specific gifts listed in 1 Corinthians, which are of supernatural origin and are in the focus of the Charismatic Movement: word of wisdom, word of knowledge, faith, gifts of healing, miraculous powers, prophecy, distinguishing between spirits, speaking in different tongues, and interpretation of tongues. Despite its Pentecostal or neo-Protestant characteristics, the Charismatic Movement finds home first in mainline Protestant churches and even within Catholicism. However, the Charismatic Movement does not have a single, well-structured organisation. In Hungary it started in the 70s, and although it does not focus only on the youth, its membership is balanced toward younger generations. The Hungarian Catholic Charismatic Renewal is a coordinating umbrella organisation, practically a central organ of various Charismatic communities or initiatives (for example Chemin Neuf, Emmausz, Emmánuel and other communities). Its most remarkable event is the National Charismatic Meeting. Although its liturgical and devotional style is very peculiar and hardly conservative, Hungarian Catholic Charismatic Renewal puts a great emphasis on doctrinal orthodoxy, loyalty to the hierarchy and apologetics.¹⁷

The Hungarian Evangelical Christian Students Association (Magyar Evangéliumi Keresztyén Diákszövetség, MEKDSZ) is an interdenominational, dominantly Protestant organisation. It was originally founded by ten students in Visegrád in 1907 who wanted to study the Bible together, but it was dissolved in 1949, in the very year when the IFES, International Fellowship of Evangelical Students¹⁸ was founded, which later came to Hungary to find Christian people in the 70s and organised secret Bible-study groups. MEKDSZ was reorganised on that basis in 1989. It attracts 2–300 people at the universities, forming 30 local groups including youths of every kind of Christian denominations. The role of the central MEKDSZ secretary is coordination and help for newly created student groups. MEKDSZ puts emphasis on faith lived through personal relationships. It has two nationwide central events: the Ground Camp in September starts the academic year and the Winter Conference closes the exam period after the first semester. The Ground Camp is an apologetic workshop focusing on the defence of faith, and the Winter Conference is about entertainment and togetherness. MEKDSZ offers an attractive, vibrant, convincing community life and a sympathetic way for living the faith.¹⁹

One of the youngest Protestant, but at the same time ecumenical youth communities is Felház, which won renown in 2016. Felház holds its meetings on Thursday evenings,²⁰ and it often holds long, sometimes all-night long worships of God, accompanied with various activities like healing, prayer, concerts, and its ambition to start a new Christian movement. Attendees come from many denominations, from Catholics and mainline Protestants to neo-Protestant and non-denominational Christians.

Every denomination boasts of a large number of youth groups. In the case of Catholics all communities were gathered in a 2006 book published by the Pastoral Institute of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference, listing 36 distinct ones,²¹ but the exact number and membership are difficult to know, because there are considerable overlaps and many initiatives are started or are finished on a yearly basis, not mentioning difficulties in definition (for example: can Taizé youth meetings be labelled a movement?). The Hungarian Catholic Bishops’ Conference has an official coordinating body for youth movements, the Youth Commission, which for example coordinates travelling to the Catholic World Youth Meetings (regularly visited by the Pope).

Finally, we have to say some words about a debate concerning the nature of spiritual movements inside the Catholic Church. Many Catholics with more conservative (or even traditionalist) views oppose the so-called “spiritualities”, considered as contrary to the catholicity of the Church. Sometimes the hierarchy can be also suspicious about grassroot movements and spontaneous initiatives, for example they are blamed for being sources of confusion at the parishes, since they “steal” the flock or form a kind of sectarian inner circle within the parish community. Sometimes their orthodoxy can also be questioned, but it is more of a problem in Western Europe and in America, and less in Hungary. These are legitimate concerns, however usually they cause really deep problems in extreme situations only, and most of the conflicts can be easily resolved, meanwhile these movements can bring new energies and freshness into parish life. As far as I know, Protestant churches have not had to deal with this problem so far. Of course we have to note that a Christian youth community or organisation is not necessarily a spirituality or a movement; also, it is not clear where the border lies between a movemental and a non-movemental community, since the definition is not clear, or meanings overlap.

Pope Benedict XVI envisioned a future where Christian (not only Catholic) communities act as creative minorities²² – the expression was borrowed from historian Arnold Toynbee, who characterised Christians, especially early religious orders as creative minorities, for they saved and maintained the cultural heritage of the Roman Empire and Greek civilisation through the tumultuous times of the Migration Period and passed it to the Christian Europe of the Middle Ages. The former Pope thinks that such relatively small Christian communities are the guardians of the heritage of the Western civilisation in our age. Maybe we can say that Christian youth communities are important, dynamic creative minorities, and certainly deserve being called (although of course not exclusively) the Salt of the World.

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