Vatican and Hungary clash over financing treaty

The office of the Vatican's Budapest envoy said in a statement on Tuesday that Vatican secretary of state, Cardinal Angelo Sodano, expressed concern over the issue during a visit by Socialist Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsany to Rome last week.

"(Sodano) expressed his astonishment that the (Hungarian) government does not respect the Treaty signed with the Holy See in 1997 by (former Socialist prime minister) Gyula Horn and Cardinal Angelo Sodano," the statement said.

The statement was an answer to calls by the country's right-wing opposition for the Vatican to publish its views on the visit after government accounts of Gyurcsany's audience with Pope John Paul stirred a conservative uproar.

The treaty regulates the restitution of some of the church assets confiscated by Hungary's Communist regime and other aspects of state-church relations.

Gyurcsany's Socialist Party, which leads the government coalition, is a successor party to Hungary's former Communist rulers.

Tension between the government and the Catholic church has been rising since the cabinet recently revealed plans to cut financing to church-run schools next year. The assembly of Hungarian bishops said the move would be discriminatory.

The government said Gyurcsany had complained during his Vatican meetings at political statements by the Hungarian Catholic church, including its support for a "yes" vote in a referendum on granting citizenship to millions of ethnic Hungarians living overseas.

The "yes" vote won, but the referendum was invalid due to a low turnout. The government opposed extending citizenship.

The rare clash between the Holy See and a former Communist country reflects a widening gulf between Hungary's left wing and the conservatives, who lead in opinion polls.

A divisive domestic political scene has made it difficult for the new European Union member to reach consensus on national issues or to cut its budget and current account deficits.

Source: Reuters