II. The Impact of Socio-Economic Change
Our three basic assumptions are as follows:
first, there is a strong correlation between the level of socio-economic development and the state of religion and religiosity;
secondly, Europe experienced a fundamental socio-ecoonomic transformation in the last two hundred years, which has had a basic impact on the position and role of religion and the Church within society; and
thirdly, Transylvania has only now arrived at the threshold of this transformation. The transition leads from a traditional into a modem society.
Traditional society represents a characteristic pattem of worldly affairs, including a taken-for-granted contact with the Almighty. Traditional society looks ‘very’ religious, accordingly. However it needs to be pointed out that this religiousness is rooted only partly (or even only to a very small extent) in the individual, and much rather in the cultural heritage and the social order. The presence or absence of this kind of religiosity largely depends on having a traditional society and culture.
The modem and altogether profane world order is genuinely devoid of religion. Modernisation destroys the systemic, societal conditions which required and supported traditional religious culture. The social form of religion has to be re-invented and brought into relation with other spheres and institutions of society. Christianity and the Church face in the modern age two most important tasks: to create and nurture a community of believers, and to maintain a dialogue with the profane world. 1
1. About the traditional character of the social system of Rumania, and within that of Transylvania
In an over-simplified manner ‘rural’ could be substituted by ‘traditional’ society, and ‘urban’ by ‘modem’ society. There are yet additional components.
Traditional society is a self-regulating socio-cultural system based on tradition.
Transylvania, which was that time, as in the ten previous centuries a part of Hungarian civilization and political system, has had at the turn of the 20th century a well developed urbanised civic society. It was characterised by - relatively - advanced production technology, education, learning and intellectual
life. But subsequently a number of things happened which arrested the development of the province and of ethnic Hungarian population of Transylvania. The post-World-War-I Trianon Treaty concluded in 1920, fundamentally reshaped political borders. Transylvania was annexed to Rumania from Hungary, to which it formerly belonged. The two million ethnic Hungarians of Transylvania became uprooted. Some had to resettle in Hungary proper, while others (professionals and public servants) simply lost their employment. Land reform had detrimental economic consequences for ethnic Hungarian peasantry which became disowned14. The closure of many Hungarian schools and the subsequent introduction and promotion of vocational training and higher education only in the Rumanian language (while corresponding Hungarian institutions were lacking) blocked the educational development of ethnic Hungarians in Transylvania15. These were the reasons why Transylvania became socio-economically retarded at a time when modernisation received fresh impetus elsewhere.
The Balkan state Rumania regained its independence from Turkish Empire only in 1854, respectively in 1878. This is the moment when slavery was abolished too. The unification of Transylvania with the Old-Rumania in 1920 proved to be a big hindrance of promotion of the former. Transylvania is now economically underdeveloped, heavily provincial and rural. Rumania has always relied much more on land and agriculture than developed industrial societies.
According to the findings of the 4Aufbruch/New Departures' survey, nearly one- third of ethnic Hungarian respondents in Transylvania are arable land owners today (in contrast with only 13% in Hungary). Nearly one-third (30%) of ethnic Hungarians in Transylvania, but only one-quarter (22%) of Hungarians living in Hungary, claim to be villagers. 12% of ethnic Hungarians in Transylvania claim to be urban dwellers (in contrast with 36% of the population of Hungary). At the same time it should be noted that ‘village’ and ‘town’ have rather different meanings in rural Transylvania than in urbanised Hungary.
60% of ethnic Hungarians in Transylvania still live in the place (mostly villages) where they were born. In contrast, only 40% of the population of Hungary live there where they were born (either in villages or in cities).
14 Móricz, Miklós: Az erdélyi föld sorsa. [The destiny of real estates in Transylvania]. Budapest:
Erdélyi Férfiak Egyesülete, 1932; Venczel, József: Az erdélyi román földbirtokreform. [Rumanian Land Reform in Transylvania]. Cluj: Minerva, 1942; Vincze, Gábor: Szociálpolitika vagy
“nemzeti igazságtétel” [Sociopolitics or so called ’national justice*?] - Land Reforms in Rumania.
H ite l (May-August 1994), pp. 3-4, 154-193.
15 Illyés, Elemér: Erdély változása [Changing Transylvania]. München: Auróra, 1975, pp. 149- 164; Illyés, Elemér: Nationale Minderheiten in Rumänien. Siebenbürgen im Wandel. Wien:
Braumüller, 1981, pp. 175-228.
Another indicator is the intellectual development. One hint for this is the use of telecommunications. The development of telecommunications is again far more advanced in Hungary than in Transylvania (Table 5).
Table 5
Proportion o f adult population o f Hungary, the ethnic Hungarian population o f Transylvania, and the Rumanian population o f Transylvania who watch TV
To establish the level of cultural development, it is interesting to compare the cultural and demographic statistics of Transylvania and other former socialist countries. International comparative statistics will of course refer to the whole of Rumania rather than Transylvania.
Table 6.
Indices o f cultural development o f nine Central European countries (1997) As compared to
( Continued) number of books published per
1,000 people
137 227 150 98 89 42 116 27 15
ratio of households with Internet access
270 219 201 64 60 72 8 6 0
workforce
reproduction rate 92 88 89 113 94 115 108 102 101
Population growth rate for the period between
1950-1995
69 99 82 116 88 117 110 105 106
2. Transition to modern society and Christianity
De-Christianization in Central and Eastern Europe is explained by two main reasons which are particular to this region: the forced nature of socio-economic changes and the persecution of religion. The political elite remodelled society and economy against the will of the majority of the population. The consequences included the disintegration of self-regulatory social mechanisms, as well as of social networks and values, and the decline of religiosity as a direct consequence of the former16.
Socio-economic changes happened yet much less in Transylvania than in Hungary. The message of Transylvania for Hungary is that it is possible to have, and that there exists even today, a traditional but living religiosity, which promotes social welfare and is open to the challenges of the 21st century.
Transylvania preserved a Christian cultural heritage, which has either sunk into oblivion or has declined in Hungary.
The relationship is equally fruitful from the other direction. The religious renaissance in Hungary - and in Central and Eastern Europe in general - is a sign that small religious communities and the Churches themselves are waking up to realise that they still have a role to play and that they have scope for development amidst modernity. In Hungary too, more and more people are moving away from habitual religiosity to a religious commitment based on personal choice. They are also showing themselves capable of interpreting that choice. Hungarian religiosity is increasingly apt to stand its ground and acquire its own relevance amidst competition dictated by pluralism. Hungary has had to
16 Tomka, Miklós: Secularization or anomie? S o c ia l C o m p a s s 1 (1991), pp. 93-102; also Tomka, Miklós - Zulehner, Paul M.: Religion im gesellschaftlichen Kontext (see note 8), pp. 49-62.
pay a very high price for his advantage, yet its social development is now far ahead of Transylvania.
Finally: the serious decline of religiosity in Hungary over recent decades is not simply a consequence of modernisation and Communism, but was caused to a certain extent by the non-responsiveness of the Churches. It is partly the conservatism of denominations which is to be blamed. But it is also possible, that not the Churches should be criticised, but rather the previous regime, which stripped Churches of independence of action. The most important thing for the future of Transylvania is that the key processes of modernisation will unfold when the totalitarian regime is already a thing of the past. This being the case, religion too has better prospects.
In Hungary, the most important aspects of religious transition are already over, and the country is now experiencing a more tranquil phase of consolidation. However, Transylvania is only just coming to face a large number of problems which Hungary had to face decades ago. In Transylvania, the disintegration of local society in the villages and of the networks of relationships with family and neighbours, and the end of the decisive role of tradition and of the handing down of a particular outlook from parent to child recently started to accelerate. Ethnic Hungarians in Transylvania will now have to create the social structures which will allow them to retain their independence and promote their interests. It is an urgent task to eliminate the educational disadvantages of ethnic Hungarians in Transylvania as compared to the Rumanian population;
disadvantages accumulated over recent decades. The Catholic, Reformed (Presbyterian), Unitarian, and Evangelical Churches also have a lot to do. But Christianity is challenged to become first and foremost a way of life which is solid enough to promote the values in its care, and able to enter into an ongoing dialogue with the profane world, the non-Hungarian part of Rumanian society, and Hungarian society alike.
(A more complete version of this study is available in Hungarian: Tomka, Miklós: ‘Jelentés a vallásosságról - Erdély az Úr 2000. esztendejében’
[Announcement on Religiosity: Transylvania in AD 2000], in Gereben, Ferenc and Tomka, Miklós, Vallásosság és nemzettudat. Vizsgálódások Erdélyben [Religiosity and National Consciousness: Studies on Transylvania], Budapest:
Kerkai Jenő Egyházszociológiai Intézet, 2000)
László Gyurgyík