Hungarian Catholic Intellectuals in Contemporary Romania: Reforming Apostles

This book explores the role of Catholic theologians in Eastern Europe as intellectuals who create national cultural traditions, particularly in the context of right-wing Christian nationalism. It highlights the efforts of Transylvanian Hungarian educators to revive a national tradition of "serving the people" by educating the rural Hungarian populace and calls for volunteers from across the border in Hungary to teach alongside them. It also examines the struggle over the nature of divine presence that animates this revival.

Format: Hardback
Length: 265 pages
Publication date: 28 June 2022
Publisher: Springer Nature Switzerland AG

This book explores the complex relationship between Catholic theologians and the rise of right-wing Christian nationalism in Eastern Europe. It argues that Catholic theologians should be understood and studied as intellectuals, who are socially and historically situated creators of national cultural traditions. While the Romanian government funds thriving schools for the country's Hungarian minority, NGOs founded by Transylvanian Hungarians continue to organize volunteers to supplement this formal pedagogy. These volunteers believe that they are reviving a national tradition of "serving the people" by educating the rural Hungarian populace.

While this book focuses on the challenges Catholic educators face in teaching villagers, it is also about their new effort to call groups of volunteers from across the border in Hungary to teach alongside them. These encounters between Transylvanian Hungarian educators and volunteers from Hungary challenge their intellectual traditions, particularly ideas about the basis of pedagogical authority, the ethical character of the nation, and the social location of selfhood. Contemporary Catholic intellectuals urge teachers to manifest their national self-consciousness, assuming that selfhood emerges where humans collaborate with God.

New Magyar Apostles, a book by Transylvanian Hungarian intellectuals, unmasks the struggle over the nature of divine presence that animates this revival of a Christian national tradition of intellectual service. It sheds light on the complex dynamics between religious nationalism, intellectual tradition, and the role of Catholic theologians in shaping the cultural and political landscape of Eastern Europe.

Weight: 498g
Dimension: 210 x 148 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9783030992200
Edition number: 1st ed. 2022