Hungary, Vatican Renew Ties After 40-Year Break
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VATICAN CITY — Hungary today removed 40-year-old restrictions on the Roman Catholic church, and the Vatican announced it was re-establishing diplomatic relations with the Warsaw Pact country.
A top church official will travel to Hungary this week to sign the agreement restoring ties that were severed by the Communists in 1945.
Hungary will become the second Soviet Bloc country to restore diplomatic ties with the Holy See. Poland did so in July.
Although church-state tensions have eased in recent years, the Roman Catholic church’s activities have been limited by an agreement with the bishops signed in 1950 when the church was under heavy pressure from the government.
The state-run MTI news agency reported that Prime Minister Miklos Nemeth and Cardinal Laszlo Paskai signed an agreement today annulling the 1950 accord that limited the number of seminaries and religious orders, among other restrictions.
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