SLOVAKIA, THE CATHOLIC CHURCH IN

Part of the former Czechoslovakia, the Slovak Republic is located in eastern Europe. Bound on the northwest by the Czech Republic with which it was formerly united, Slovakia is bound on the northeast by Poland, on the east by Ukraine, on the southeast by Hungary, and on the west by Austria. Featuring a mountainous landscape dominated by the Carpathians to the south, Slovakia is heavily forested, with some steppe regions in the lowlands to the southeast. Natural resources include coal, timber, and small quantities of iron, copper and manganese ore. The transition from a planned economy under communism to a modern economy was a difficult one due to international debt, unemployment and inflation. Over half of Slovakia's exports of machinery, fuels and other manufactured goods are shipped within the European Union, which it hoped to join after achieving economic stability.

Together with the historic lands of the Czechs in Bohemia and Moravia, with Silesia, and with Carpathian Ruthenia, Slovakia was part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire since medieval times. Czechs and Slovaks shared ethnic roots and spoke languages very closely allied to one another. Because of the frequent cultural exchanges they had shared for centuries, they united politically in 1918 to form their own independent state, the Republic of Czechoslovakia. When the Communists seized power in 1948, the region was termed a People's Republic, and in 1960 it became the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic. After the region achieved independence in 1989, Slovakia agitated for independence from her neighbor to the north; the Czech Republic was founded in January of 1993, leaving Slovakia an independent nation as well.

Within Slovakia there are two relatively independent organizational structures of the Catholic Church with different liturgical and juridical traditions: the Roman Catholic Church and the Byzantine (Greek) Catholic Church.

Under communism, Byzantine-rite Catholics were absorbed into the Czechoslovak Orthodox Church, but by the 1970s the Byzantine Church had resumed functioning in Slovakia. The Eastern and Roman Churches fully respect each other and work together; bishops from all seven Slovak dioceses form the Bishops' Conference of Slovakia, the office of which is in Bratislava.

Christianity in Slovakia to 1918

Slovakia was subject to the archbishop of salzburg until 829, and then to Passau. After the destruction of the Empire of Great Moravia (907), Slovakia was incorporated into Hungary, where it remained until 1918.

Medieval Period. Slovakia was gradually exposed to Germanic, Celtic and Roman peoples, and missionaries entered the area in the 8th century. Within the fortified towns that grew up in the region, Slavonic culture and liturgy were gradually replaced by Latin culture and liturgy, although in the more remote valleys of eastern Slovakia the Byzantine-Slavonic rite continued to be observed. The immigration of Valachians (Rumanians) and Ruthenians, belonging to the same rite, increased the number of its adherents in the following centuries. For the most part these two groups were assimilated by the Slovaks, but a small Ruthenian (now Ukrainian) national group retained its separate identity well into the 20th century.

In 880 the Diocese of Nitra was built; it would continue to be active save for the century between the Hungarian invasion and its restoration (1024) by the sainted King stephen i, who had established a Latin hierarchy in his realm by this time. In addition to Nitra, Slovakia included the See of Eger (founded c. 1009) and the Archdiocese of Esztergom (c. 1000, now located in Hungary). This ecclesiastical organization lasted for several centuries. Important contributions to Slovakia's civilization were made by the benedictines, whose monasteries included zobor (founded c. 1000), Sv. Beňadik (1075) and Opátska (1143); as well as by the cistercians, who founded the monasteries of Lipovník (1141) and Štiavník

(1223); and by the premonstratensians, whose houses included Bzovík (1130) and jasov (1220).

In 1241 Tartars from Russia moved southwest into Slovakia, invading and devastating the country (see mon gols). To expedite reconstruction, King Bela IV encouraged colonists from Germany by granting these immigrants a number of privileges. The Germans founded several cities and promoted trade and commerce, but they lived and worked in close association with one another, thus preserving their own national enclaves through many generations. In 1930 Slovakia's German population numbered 147,500, but after 1945 almost all of them were forced to leave.

Reformation and Catholic Restoration. In the 16th century the Germans were the first in Slovakia to embrace Protestantism. The new doctrine also spread rapidly among the nobility, who then imposed it upon their feudal subjects. Because ecclesiastical discipline was decadent and ecclesiastical organization inadequate, Protestant doctrine was widely accepted by the clergy as well. After the Turks conquered the primatial See of Esztergom in 1543, the archbishop and the metropolitan chapter relocated in Trnava, where they remained for the next three centuries. It was at Trnava that Archbishop Miklós Olahus (olÁh, 1553–68) began the work of Catholic restoration by convoking provincial synods and by introducing the Jesuits to Trnava in 1561. After his successor's death, however, the see remained vacant for 34 years. By 1600 almost all of Slovakia was, to all appearances, Protestant. Cardinal Peter pÁzmÁny (1616–37) took as his charge the restoration of Catholicism in Slovakia. In addition to winning many nobles back to the faith, Pázmány founded the University in Trnava (1635) and entrusted it to the Jesuits.

The work of Catholic restoration proved extremely difficult, in part because Slovakia was a battleground throughout the 17th century. Turks occupied the southern section until the Christian victory at Vienna (1683). In other sections the Catholic armies of the Hapsburgs fought the Protestant troops of the princes of Transylvania. But by the 18th century the political situation had become more peaceful, and when Emperor Joseph II decreed the act of tolerance in 1781, the religious situation was stabilized. Since that time, Protestants—predominately Lutherans, but also some Calvinists—formed only a small percent of the population. The Union of Užhorod, which was tentatively settled in 1646, was concluded by the mid-18th century and helped strengthen the Church by obtaining the accession of the Orthodox members of the Byzantine rite. To improve the ecclesiastical

structure, the Dioceses of Banská Bystrica, Rožnava and Spiš were erected in 1776, the Diocese of Košice in 1804, and the Byzantine-rite Diocese of Prešov in 1818.

National Awakening. For many years Slovakia had existed as a province of the Austro-Hungarian empire. However, as a result of philosophical changes brought on by the European Enlightenment and the rise of the Napoleonic vision, the beginnings of a national consciousness arose c. 1800. This striving for a national identity received the support of many Slovak priests, notably linguist Anthony Bernolák (1762–1813), poet John Hollý (1785–1849) and Bishop Stephan Moyses (1797–1869). Some Lutheran clergymen and laymen of both confessions were also prominent. In 1870 Andrew Radlinský founded the Society of St. Adalbert (Spolok Sv. Vojtecha) to spread popular Slovak Catholic literature.

To destroy the first glimmerings of a Slovak national consciousness, the Hungarian government began a program involving political and ethnic persecution in 1867. This harassment, along with social and economic unrest, caused hundreds of thousands of Slovaks to immigrate, principally to North America. So large was the movement that the percentage of emigrants in relation to total population was higher in Slovakia than anywhere else in Europe except in Ireland and Norway. In order to turn the Slovaks into Hungarian Magyars, the government ordered that all secondary schools use the Hungarian language by 1875, and by 1907 all primary school teachers in Slovakia were required to present their lessons in Hungarian as well. These laws had the effect of preventing the development of a Slovak intellectual class, as few could read the works of native writers. By 1900 the majority of Slovak intellectuals could be found only among Catholic priests and, to a lesser extent, Lutheran ministers. The most outstanding among these priests was Monsignor Andrew Hlinka (1864–1938), who founded the Slovak Catholic People's Party in 1905. For this activity

Hlinka spent several years in prison, where he translated the Bible into Slovak. By the time Slovakia was separated from the collapsed Austro-Hungarian Empire in 1918, the denationalization process was almost complete.

Upheaval Follows World War I. In 1919 Slovakia joined with the Czech region to the north and formed the republic of Czechoslovakia. During the critical years following World War I, all incumbent Slovak bishops were forced to give up their sees, except Augustine Fischer-Colbrie (d. 1922) of Košice, who retained his diocese despite his German extraction. The first three Slovak bishops were consecrated in Nitra on Feb. 13, 1921. Fortunately, unlike the situation in other parts of the former Austro-Hungarian Empire, anticlerical intellectual circles were uncommon, and the clergy retained its influence over the people. The Slovak Catholic People's party became the largest political party due to its platform of Slovak autonomy and preservation of the Slovak religious heritage. It continued to gain support, despite the anti-Catholic spirit of the central government.

The papal document Ad ecclesiastici regiminis issued on Sept. 2, 1937 adjusted the southern boundaries of Slovakia but did not make a final settlement concerning the Apostolic Administration of Trnava, which had been created in May of 1922 from those parishes formerly belonging to the Hungarian Archdiocese of Esztergom but situated in Slovakia. The modus vivendi provided that Slovak dioceses should be united in one ecclesiastical province and that a second metropolitan see should be erected for Byzantine-rite Catholics in eastern Czechoslovakia. However, a new political upheaval in Europe would prevent such plans from being carried out.

The expansion of Germany's National Socialist agenda during the late 1930s directly affected Czechoslovakia due to both its proximity and cultural ties to Germany. Under the terms of the Munich Pact signed between the Czechoslovakian government and Germany in the fall of 1938 Slovakia lost its southern districts to Hungary and the former Soviet Union. Changed to a federated state of the Third Reich on Oct. 6, 1938, the republic of Czechoslovakia was forcibly dissolved six months later, and Slovakia was proclaimed an independent republic on March 14, 1939.

Slovakia's altered southern and eastern boundaries disturbed the ecclesiastical organization once more, because Hungary now encompassed the Dioceses of Košice and Rožnava, while Užhorod, residence of the Byzantine rite bishop of Mukačevo and the Latin apostolic administrator for the parishes of Satu-Mare, was part of the former Soviet Union. Parishes of the three Latin-rite dioceses remaining in Slovakia were now placed under an apostolic administrator stationed in Prešov. The Byzantine rite parishes that had belonged to the Diocese of Mukačevo were now administered by the Byzantine rite bishop of Prešov. Political power was exercised mostly by the Slovak Catholic People's party headed by Monsignor Jozef Tiso (1887–1947), who was prime minister and president of the Nazi-collaborationist state from 1939–45. Tiso's administration was disturbed by Nazi interference, both with regards to the Jewish question and in other matters. After fleeing the country in 1945, he was captured by the Allies in Germany and delivered to the Communist-controlled Czechoslovak government, which condemned him to death and executed him in Bratislava on April 18, 1947. After his death, the Slovak people continued to hold Tiso in high esteem, and as late as 1999 the city of Zilina was condemned by Catholic, Jewish and Lutheran leaders for its desire to publicly commemorate Tiso with a plaque.

Church under Communism. In 1948 a communist government under Klement Gottwald took power in the reunited Czechoslovakia. During the four decades of authoritarian rule that followed, the Church suffered great persecution. Repressive government policies gave rise to a vigorous underground Church served by bishops and priests who were ordained clandestinely. One of them, Ján Chryzostom Korec, a Jesuit, had been secretly ordained a bishop in 1951 at the age of 27. He served the underground church until 1960, when upon discovery he was sentenced to a 12-year prison term. Released in 1968 during a brief respite from oppression known as the "Prague Spring," Korec worked in Bratislava as a laborer while founding a new clandestine ministry. In 1976, in an effort to placate the anticlericism of Czechoslovakian president Husák, a Vatican envoy ordered Korec to cease his underground activities and stop ordaining priests, but there was no letup in government repression. Other clandestine bishops continued to ordain priests, many of whom were married men because their wedded state would make them beyond suspicion of government agents. Nikolaus Krett ordained several women during this period.

The underground Church was made even more necessary after 14 June 1950, when all diocesan seminaries in Czechoslovakia were closed by the government. In their stead the government opened one seminary for the Czech lands, located in Prague, and another in Bratislava for Slovakia. Both of these state-controlled institutions were termed theological faculties, and their students were in constant suspicion of teachers who promoted a communist-controlled curriculum. During the Communist regime, Rome was allowed to appoint only three "compromise-minded" bishops to Vatican II, which met for the first of four sessions in 1962.

Despite the efforts of the government to exacerbate tensions between the two groups, Czechs and Slovaks united in efforts to frustrate Communist repression of political and religious liberties. Resistance to the Communist regime stiffened in the wake of the police assault on peaceful Catholic demonstrators on March 25, 1988. Known as "the Good Friday of Bratislava," the Husák regime viciously attacked the thousands of Slovaks who had come to pray and in Hviezdoslavovo Square. The incident prompted international protests and solidified the will of the people to resist. In November of 1989, during a period dubbed the "Velvet Revolution," many Slovaks joined in the creation of Verejnost Proti Násiliu ("Public against Violence"), an umbrella organization linking parts of the resistance community. On Oct. 22, 1991, the bishops of the Czech Slovak Federal Republic gathered in St. Vitus Cathedral in Prague for a Mass celebrating the 13th anniversary of the installation of Pope John Paul II. Archbishop Miloslav Vlk of Prague greeted an assembly that included many revolutionary leaders as well as the principal celebrant, underground bishop Korec, now Archbishop of Bratislava and newly created cardinal. By the end of 1991 Husák had lost power and communist rule in Czechoslovakia had come to an end.

Although Czechs and Slovaks had united in their opposition to the Communist regime, the elections of 1992 foreshadowed the changes that would take place in the region. While a new government was established under Czech leader Václav Havel and separate legislative councils were established for both the Czechs and the Slovaks, Slovakia reasserted its independence on Jan. 1, 1993. The Church would develop a good relationship with the new Slovak government, and in June of 1995 Pope John Paul II visited the country. Two years later, Slovak President Michal Kovac made his third visit to the Holy See in four years.

Liberated Church Enters 21st Century. After the division of the two countries, the Church in Slovakia maintained open contacts with the Church in the Czech Republic. According to their statutes and encouraged by the Holy See, the episcopal conferences in both countries met annually in plenary session to discuss common problems and keep each other abreast of developments in their respective lands. One problem common to both countries was how to deal with the bishops and priests—particularly those who were married—who had been ordained in the underground church during the communist era. Fortunately, the Byzantine-rite Church had a tradition of accepting married clergy; coming forward in response to a call from the Pope in 1997, many priests who had been ordained clandestinely were re-ordained by the Greek Catholic bishop in eastern Slovakia and permitted to minister to congregations in both the Latin and Greek rites. The ordination of women remained invalid.

The regeneration of the Church in Slovakia began in 1989, when the Church was finally able to implement the liturgical reforms of the Second Vatican Council. During the 1990s, this regeneration became full-blown: religious communities opened schools, publishing companies reopened, Christian associations once again operated in the open, and the religious once again set themselves to the task of evangelization. Chaplains were once again able to resume their ministry in Slovakia's army, prisons and hospitals. As bishop of Nitra, Cardinal Korec estimated that he opened over 70 new churches and ordained 100 priests in the decade following Slovak independence. In 1996 bishops began a program to reacquaint adult Catholics with the catechism as a way to combat the dearth of religious participation that had occurred under communism. In addition, many Church buildings confiscated by the communist government earlier in the century were returned to the Church, while new seminaries and theological faculties, such as a private Catholic university established in Ruzomberok in 2000, sprang up to replace those institutions that had been destroyed. Unfortunately, many buildings were returned in poor condition and parishes and religious houses often found themselves without sufficient funds for repairs. While the return of Church property remained an issue into 2000—in part because of Slovakia's current economic downturn—a resolution was anticipated that would allow the Church to be made "whole."

By 2000 there were 1,440 parishes ministered to by 1,750 secular and 503 religious priests. In addition, 202 brothers and 3,101 sisters worked within their communities as teachers, caregivers and in other areas of social outreach. Among the most pressing social ills that Catholic leadership hoped to address were the evangelization of youth, the welfare of the Catholic family, stopping the outbreaks of racial violence focused against the region's Roma minority and combating the spiritual inertia of an increasingly secularized and materialistic society. In November of 2000 the Holy See signed a "fundamental accord" with the Slovak government that would, in the words of Pope John Paul II, "safeguard the cultural patrimony" of the country's Catholics. Although some commentators saw the accord as providing preferential treatment of Catholic interests within Slovakia, bishops answered such complaints by noting that the agreement will in fact help all churches within the country.

Because of its long history in Slovakia, the Roman Catholic Church proved invaluable in helping not only Catholics but all Slovaks to recapture the cultural traditions their nation adopted from the West. The presence of the Byzantine Catholic Church, with its spirituality and liturgy, also reminded Slovaks of their centuries-old connection with the East. The continued unity of the two Slovak Catholic Churches, despite the religious and cultural differences that exist, illustrated the potential for unity within a secularized and diversified post-communist culture. As John Paul II commented of the importance of the Slovak Church in eastern Europe, it continued to serve as an example to all Catholics of how to "breathe by both lungs."

See Also: czech republic, the catholic church in.

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