US embassy cable - 05VATICAN440

C O N F I D E N T I A L  VATICAN 000440 
 
SIPDIS 
 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR EUR/WE: LEVIN; EUR:NCE; EMBASSY BUDAPEST PASS IZZO 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL:  2/17/2015 
TAGS: VT, HU, SOCI, PHUM, PREL, Human Trafficking 
SUBJECT: VATICAN: HUNGARIAN CHURCH-STATE RIFT MERITS ATTENTION 
 
REF: A)  BUDAPEST 209; B) BUDAPEST 226; C) MARTIN-IZZO EMAIL 2/3/05 
 
 
CLASSIFIED BY: Peter Martin, POL, Vatican, State. 
REASON: 1.4 (b), (d) 
 
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Summary 
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1. (C) Holy See Country Director for Central Europe Monsignor 
Michael Banach (protect throughout) acknowledged mild though 
persistent tensions between the GoH and the Catholic Church, 
adding that issues relating to the funding of Catholic Schools 
and differing interpretations of the 1990s agreements between 
the two sides had created "a situation meriting attention." 
Banach did not dwell on controversy emanating from PM 
Gyurcsany's December 18 visit to the Holy See, but implied that 
Gyurcsany's remarks regarding the Hungarian Church's role in 
politics and his failure to acknowledge the Pope's welcoming 
address following the PM's papal audience had been ill-received 
at the Vatican.  Banach was not overly concerned about possible 
fall-out from the initiative to open the files from the 
communist era "III/III" intelligence unit, and was pleased to 
learn of the Hungarians' proposed joint ecumenical statement 
against human trafficking.  End Summary. 
 
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Mild Tensions 
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2.  (C) Holy See Country Director for Hungary Monsignor Michael 
Banach (protect throughout) acknowledged mild but persistent 
tensions between the GoH and the Catholic Church, and said 
issues relating to the funding of Catholic schools, the Vatican 
Treaty, and the Financial Conditions of the Religious and Public 
Purpose Activity of Churches Act of 1997 (ref b) had created "a 
situation meriting attention."  He asserted that some 
governmental budget cuts had been "contrary" to these 
agreements.  Initially the Holy See had been encouraged by the 
formation of a joint commission set up to examine issues related 
to the agreements.  While the Hungarian Catholic Church had 
appointed top officials to the commission, Banach claimed that 
the GoH had "demonstrated its lack of desire for true 
cooperation" by choosing relatively low-level or unprepared 
members. 
 
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PM Ruffles Feathers 
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3.  (C) Banach initially attempted to remain above the fray when 
recounting PM Gyurcsany's December 18 visit to the Holy See (ref 
b).  But after some discussion, Banach pointed out that in the 
PM's remarks to the media and in his office's press release 
following the visit, Gyurcsany had failed to mention the points 
made in the Pope's welcoming address.  Banach implied that 
Gyurcsany's avoidance of these carefully-chosen remarks on 
Hungarian-Holy See juridical agreements and Hungary's future 
contributions to the EU was not well received at the Vatican. 
The Prime Minister's critical comments on the Hungarian Church's 
role in politics seem to have been similarly received.  Banach 
noted the negative reaction in the Hungarian press in the 
aftermath of Gyurcsany's visit and the nuncio's statement 
referred to in ref (b). 
 
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Three Stroke Three 
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4.  (C) According to Banach, the initiative to open the files 
from the communist era "III/III" intelligence unit (ref b) is 
only on the edge of the Holy See's radar screen.  Banach did not 
seem familiar with the exact nature of the III/III files, but 
said that he was hopeful that even if the III/III archives 
revealed names of clergy members, the public would realize that 
such revelations were either politically motivated, or more 
complicated than they seemed on the surface.  He admitted that 
the situation could "blow up" for the Church if particular 
high-level names did come up, or if there were a rash of 
clerical entries in the files. 
 
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TIP Initiative a Positive Development 
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5.  (C) Banach, who is familiar with Embassy Vatican's various 
anti-trafficking (TIP) initiatives, was pleased to hear about 
the Hungarians' proposed ecumenical statement against TIP (ref 
a) and appreciated receiving a draft copy of the text (ref c). 
He noted that the Hungarian Bishops' Conference had expressed 
concern for TIP in the past, at least informally.  Coordination 
between the Conference, other religious organizations, and 
 
governments was a "very positive development" due to Hungary's 
strategic location between Eastern and Western Europe, he 
concluded. 
 
HARDT 
 
 
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 2005VATICA00440 - Classification: CONFIDENTIAL