Pray and Vaccinate: Worship and Pastoral Care in Times of Pandemic in Hungary

Máté-Tóth, András (2021) Pray and Vaccinate: Worship and Pastoral Care in Times of Pandemic in Hungary. Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe, 41 (1). pp. 155-161. ISSN 2693-2148

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Abstract

The major churches in Hungary—Catholic, Calvinist and Lutheran—felt concerned about the Corona pandemic, especially about Sunday services. As in the spring wave, so in the autumn wave, the question of offline/online services was in the center of public communication. It has kerygmatic reasons—especially among Catholics—since, according to Vatican II, the Eucharist is the source and summit of the relationship with God. (Lumen Gentium 11.) Without Eucharistic celebration, congregations are "grace-poor" and priests, too, can feel deprived of their first-order mission and "service-poor." Similarly, Protestant pastors experience and exercise their priestly ministry primarily through Sunday worship, preaching, and the Lord's Prayer. During the pandemic, the highest effort of pastoral ministry can be experienced in the struggle for so called ‘despite services,’ which in my understanding are services held despite of the pandemic situation. Despite restrictions, in spite of technical problems, in spite of everything—the services must take place. If someone should get the idea to measure the degree of secularization by the attendance at mass during the Corona period, the study will most likely conclude that the number of services and the number of participants remain the same, only the form has partially changed.

Item Type:	Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Pandemic, Covid-19, Vaccine, Church in Pandemic, Worship, Worship in Pandemic
Subjects:	D World Christianity and Central Eastern Europe > Europe G Christian traditions/Denominations > Evangelical G Christian traditions/Denominations > Roman Catholic G Christian traditions/Denominations > Lutheran G Christian traditions/Denominations > Reformed, Presbyterian
Divisions:	Central Europe Central Europe > Hungary
Depositing User:	Speranca Tomin
Date Deposited:	21 Sep 2021 08:35
Last Modified:	21 Sep 2021 08:35
URI:	https://ceeamsprints.osims.org/id/eprint/2030

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