The Hungarian bishops’ conference asked for forgiveness Wednesday on behalf of Church members who collaborated with the Communist state, following the release of secret police files.
But the bishops’ conference also called Nov. 4 for recognition of the Church’s resistance to the regime that held power from 1949 to 1989, as well as for careful appraisal of the newly published documents.
It said: “The names of individuals associated with the Church who appear in the documents that have now been made public conceal a wide variety of stories. Some of them genuinely collaborated with the communist regime, passing on confidential information about members of the community and others. On their behalf, we ask the victims and their families for forgiveness.”
The bishops’ conference said that others had been tortured or blackmailed.
“Some produced reports that contained little or no meaningful information. And among the names on the list are also people whom the authorities merely attempted to recruit, but who refused; nevertheless, a 6-os karton [a type of index card] was created for them too,” it said.
“Moreover, some of the documents were destroyed, meaning that the surviving archival material does not give us a complete picture.”