Peculiarities and Difficulties of Processing Church Collaboration

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to show how the church public received the process of uncovering the past in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Hungary in 2005, which is centred on the secret agent activities of those church members who collaborated with the communist-socialist system. One of the objectives of the political authorities was to eliminate, or at least weaken, the religiousness and the internal activity and social influence of the churches. The presentation and critique of the fact-finding work will focus on the testimonies of those who, as descendants of those involved, have been closely confronted with the disturbing revelations and who have seen the process of fact-finding from a particular perspective. The study points out the complexity and difficulties of fact-finding work, without losing sight of the conviction that reconciliation with the past is always justified. A unique feature of research on church collaboration is the examination from the perspective of descendants, which is the focus of this study. Keywords: uncovering the past, collaboration, secret agent activity, transgenerational effect, confession, absolution