ABSTRACT
In this paper, I present my ethical dilemma concerning a secret police case rich in surv... more ABSTRACT In this paper, I present my ethical dilemma concerning a secret police case rich in surveillance images that I encountered during the course of my research in the Historical Archives of the Hungarian State Security (ÁBTL). After reading the operative file of a religious community under surveillance during the 1980s, I decided to approach the group, discuss the images and texts I had found about them, and involve them in the research process. However, the group expressed their explicit intention not to engage in the research process. Even though the guidelines and legal framework regarding the publishing of secret police archival materials would allow me to publish the images and the content of the ÁBTL dossier, I decided to respect the religious community’s intention and their refusal to collaborate. I therefore discuss issues of different ethical standards and accountability in the light of my “failed” ethnographic attempt and reflect on the ethical responsibility of the researcher. I present how the visual images of this particular case file were eventually included in an exhibition in what I see as an ethically appropriate solution to articulate issues of distrust in researchers as a legacy of surveillance and past secret police atrocities.
Hungary is as yet located outside the official sphere of the Hillsong imaginary. This chapter looks at the international expansion of the Hillsong Movement and considers the significant influence it makes on Hungarian Christianity without even planting a congregation in the country. The chapter outlines the pentecostalization or charismatization of Hungarian Christianity through the example of the Hillsong phenomenon. The role of the internet and media is indisputable, similarly to the annual “Ez az a nap” (This is the day) Christian musical festival bringing the best-known praise-teams and worship leaders to Hungary. The transnational flow of worship practices is experienced through the vehicle of the Hillsong praise and worship music mediating a specific modern style of worship and cultural praxis.
In this article, I look at how popular hymnody and the surrounding devotional and liturgical prac... more In this article, I look at how popular hymnody and the surrounding devotional and liturgical practices changed after the Second Vatican Council in Hungary. The songs amongst authoritarian, atheistic circumstances sounded astonishingly similar to the emerging “folk mass movement”. The discourse analysis of Hungarian popular hymnody contributes to a new perspective of Eastern European Catholicism and helps us understand how “lived Catholicism” reflects the post-Vatican spirit. Post-Vatican popular hymnody, a catalyst for a new style of devotional practices, is understood as “performed theology” behind the Iron Curtain expressing relationality, as it actualizes and manifests spiritual, eschatological, and ecclesial relationships.
Journal of Global Catholicism: Vol. 4: Iss. 1, 2020
This article focuses on the unique dimensions of lived or vernacular Catholicism through the anal... more This article focuses on the unique dimensions of lived or vernacular Catholicism through the analysis of contemporary congregational music in Hungary. Looking at the musical lives of Hungarian Roman Catholics from the late 1960s to contemporary times can provide us with new understandings of the theological contents and aesthetics, as well as the vernacular religiosity of the community. Christian popular music appeared behind the Iron Curtain relatively early, in 1967 when the first “beat mass” was created and introduced at Budapest. The early Christian popular music sounded astonishingly similar to the songs of the American Folk Mass Movement of the 1960s without any connection between the two phenomena. The Communist dictatorship greatly influenced the ‘visibility,’ the characteristics of Christian popular music, and also its secrecy. Amongst authoritarian, atheistic circumstances, Christian popular music spread underground. The social dimension of this music was, therefore, an underground religious subculture that existed independently and was often prohibited by Church leaders. I give an overview of the reactions of the institutions (state authorities, churches) and persons connected to these authorities (priests, collaborators, secret police informers) and the participants of the emerging grassroots movement and analyze the inner tensions and attitudes of the opposing groups.
The present study examines the ambivalent connection between modernisation and Roman Catholic rel... more The present study examines the ambivalent connection between modernisation and Roman Catholic religion. It focuses on the appearance of popular music in a religious environment and seeks an answer to the question of how the official and lived religion responded to the changes of late modernity. What dynamic tensions arose from the different ways in which the Church and the communities of believers have judged in the past and judge today the invasive spread of Christian popular music? What connection is there between the emerging or reviving religious music styles and the various interpretations of religious modernisation?
The List of 84 Selected Abstracts for 2015 Gypsy Lore Society Annual Meeting and Conference on Gy... more The List of 84 Selected Abstracts for 2015 Gypsy Lore Society Annual Meeting and Conference on Gypsy/Romani Studies (Chisinau, Republic of Moldova, 10-12 September 2015).
In the article the author focuses on the Pentecostal-Charismatic Renewal
movements that attract... more In the article the author focuses on the Pentecostal-Charismatic Renewal
movements that attract rapidly increasing number of followers all over the world
and in recent years in Hungary as well. She intends to show how this fundamentally
Protestant-inspired trend appears within Catholic frameworks and look at
the demands and cultural processes behind the syncretising phenomenon. The
blurring of boundaries and the transposable patterns are clearly reflected in the
common use of the worship-song repertoire.
Barna Gábor - Povedák Kinga (szerk.) Lelkiségek, lelkiségi mozgalmak Magyarországon és Kelet-Közép Európában., 2014
RELIGION, MUSIC, COMMUNITY
The interferences of the Pentecostal-charismatic renewal
and the Cat... more RELIGION, MUSIC, COMMUNITY
The interferences of the Pentecostal-charismatic renewal
and the Catholic Charismatic Renewal
In my paper I focus on the Pentecostal-charismatic renewal movements with a
booming number of followers all over the world and in the course of time in
Hungary as well. I intend to introduce how this fundamentally protestant inspired
trend appears within Catholic frameworks and look at the needs and cultural
processes behind the syncretizing phenomenon. The blurring of boundaries and
the transposable patterns are clearly articulated in the common use of the worship-
song repertoire.
Barna Gábor - Kerekes Ibolya (szerk.) Vallás, egyén társadalom. , 2014
THE RECEPTION OF POPULAR CHRISTIAN MUSIC
IN HUNGARY DURING SOCIALIST TIMES
This paper investiga... more THE RECEPTION OF POPULAR CHRISTIAN MUSIC
IN HUNGARY DURING SOCIALIST TIMES
This paper investigates the debates that characterized the past decades since
popular religious music appeared in Hungarian church music scene. The new
style has been a topic of great controversy in various ways since its beginnings.
By many it is considered the most effective instrument for spreading Christianity
among younger generations. However, many opponents dislike the entering of
this modern church music rooted in popular culture into the realm of Christianity.
My paper focuses on the conflicts that reveal the differences between the „traditional”
and „modern” contemporary vernacular Chirstianity at once.
Monique Ingalls, Carolyn Landau and Tom Wagner (eds.) Christian Congregational Music Performance, Identity and Experience. Farnham, Ashgate. , Aug 2013
Acta Ethnographica Hungarica, 56 (1), pp. 29–39 (2011), 2011
Contemporary Christian music appeared in Hungary in the 1960s. In a unique period
of Hungary whe... more Contemporary Christian music appeared in Hungary in the 1960s. In a unique period
of Hungary when religion was suppressed and rock and roll was denounced, the merging of the two,
Christian rock music was even more disapproved during the communist regime. For many, contemporary
Christian music was more than simply music; it indicated opposition against the political system. Therefore
contemporary Christian music was an alternative music not only from a clerical but also from a political
point of view. This article tries to analyze the function of contemporary Christian music in listeners’ religious
folklife, their experience during listening to contemporary Christian music.
Contemporary Christian music appeared in Hungary in
the 1960s. In a unique period for Hungary wh... more Contemporary Christian music appeared in Hungary in
the 1960s. In a unique period for Hungary when religion was
suppressed and rock and roll was denounced, the merging of the
two, Christian and rock music was even more disapproved of during
the communist regime. For many, contemporary Christian music
was more than simply music; it indicated opposition to the political
system. Therefore contemporary Christian music was an alternative
music not only from a clerical but also from a political point of view.
From the middle of the 1970s there is an annual Christian “festival”
at Nagymaros with open-air masses and musical worship bringing
thousands together. Although from the 1980s contemporary
Christian music has been tolerated in several parishes – this way it
became indoor – the Nagymaros “festivals” remained one of the
biggest and most significant outdoor Christian events in Hungary
and East-Central Europe.
"Ha nagyvárosi aluljárókban sétálunk, gyakran találkozhatunk szintetizátorral, gi-tárral felszere... more "Ha nagyvárosi aluljárókban sétálunk, gyakran találkozhatunk szintetizátorral, gi-tárral felszerelt evangelizáló csoportokkal, akik fennhangon hirdetik a körülöttük összegyűlt néhány fős 'tömegnek', hogy Jézus itt van köztünk. Közben egy-egy ka-tolikus templomban az előre meghirdetett i úsági gitáros miséken megtelnek a pad-sorok középkorú hívekkel, akik néha unokáik társaságában érkeznek és szokatlan lelkesedéssel éneklik kedvenc Jenő-számaik refrénjét. Ha ezek után kilátogatunk egy Hillsong vagy Jesus Culture dicsőítő koncertre, több ezer, eksztázisban ugráló atal közé keveredhetünk, akik a koncert befejeztével autogrammért állnak sorba kedvenc énekesüknél. A keresztény rock ellenzői minderre felzúdultan hangoztatják évtize-dek óta, hogy az egész rockzene a sátántól származik." Povedák Kinga nemzetközi viszonylatban is hiánypótló könyvében olvashatjuk ezeket a sorokat. A kutatónak olyan hihetetlenül tarka és gazdag zenei világ rejtjeleit kellett megfejtenie és ösz-szeolvasnia, amelyben egymás mellett és egymással ötvöződnek az egy szál gitárral a tábortűz melletti összejöveteleknél előadott dalok, a pünkösdi istentiszteleteken megszólaló professzionális, liturgikus dalok, amelyek más esetben már stadionokban rendezett dicsőítő koncerteken fordulnak elő. Ide érthetők továbbá a katolikus mi-séken megszólaló gitáros kórusok, de az elmélyülést, meditációt, szakrális kommu-nikációt elősegítő Taizéi-dalok mellett szinte mindenféle zenei alkotás a keresztény rocktól az apostagi ökumenikus könnyűzenei fesztiválon elhangzó keresztény me-tál különböző változatai, másképpen: a Pasolini Máté evangéliumában is felhang-zó Missa Lubá-tól a Jézus Krisztus szupersztár-on keresztül az akkor 17 éves Szilas Imre-a világon legelső-rock-miséjéig. Ahhoz, hogy a szerző megragadhassa a keresztény könnyűzenét mint a társadalmi változásokra adott, és az egyházban zajló nyelvújítást felgyorsító választ, valamint az erre érkező világi és egyházi válaszokat, komplex vallástudományi (csak a legfontosabb elemeit említve: vallástörténeti, val-lásantropológiai, művészet-és vallásszociológiai) kutatások eredményeire támaszko-dó, több szólamban olvasható könyvet kellett írnia, egyaránt megfelelve a tudomá-nyosságnak és a "laikus" érdeklődök olvasmány-igényeinek. Nyomatékkal érzékelteti a szerző, hogy a keresztény könnyűzene halálosan komoly dolog. Míg a pártállam puha diktatúrája idején a rezsim szerette volna elhallgattatni, ma viszont attól kell tartani, hogy ez a protestáló és egyházat megújító zene a keresztény-konzervatív rendszerrel ideológiai harmóniában együttműködő egyházban kurzuszenévé válik, pedig-gyelmeztet a szerző-a keresztény könnyűzene atalok közötti népszerűsé-ge és a katolikus atalok egyre csökkenő száma egymással párban jár. Kamarás István OJD
ABSTRACT
In this paper, I present my ethical dilemma concerning a secret police case rich in surv... more ABSTRACT In this paper, I present my ethical dilemma concerning a secret police case rich in surveillance images that I encountered during the course of my research in the Historical Archives of the Hungarian State Security (ÁBTL). After reading the operative file of a religious community under surveillance during the 1980s, I decided to approach the group, discuss the images and texts I had found about them, and involve them in the research process. However, the group expressed their explicit intention not to engage in the research process. Even though the guidelines and legal framework regarding the publishing of secret police archival materials would allow me to publish the images and the content of the ÁBTL dossier, I decided to respect the religious community’s intention and their refusal to collaborate. I therefore discuss issues of different ethical standards and accountability in the light of my “failed” ethnographic attempt and reflect on the ethical responsibility of the researcher. I present how the visual images of this particular case file were eventually included in an exhibition in what I see as an ethically appropriate solution to articulate issues of distrust in researchers as a legacy of surveillance and past secret police atrocities.
Hungary is as yet located outside the official sphere of the Hillsong imaginary. This chapter looks at the international expansion of the Hillsong Movement and considers the significant influence it makes on Hungarian Christianity without even planting a congregation in the country. The chapter outlines the pentecostalization or charismatization of Hungarian Christianity through the example of the Hillsong phenomenon. The role of the internet and media is indisputable, similarly to the annual “Ez az a nap” (This is the day) Christian musical festival bringing the best-known praise-teams and worship leaders to Hungary. The transnational flow of worship practices is experienced through the vehicle of the Hillsong praise and worship music mediating a specific modern style of worship and cultural praxis.
In this article, I look at how popular hymnody and the surrounding devotional and liturgical prac... more In this article, I look at how popular hymnody and the surrounding devotional and liturgical practices changed after the Second Vatican Council in Hungary. The songs amongst authoritarian, atheistic circumstances sounded astonishingly similar to the emerging “folk mass movement”. The discourse analysis of Hungarian popular hymnody contributes to a new perspective of Eastern European Catholicism and helps us understand how “lived Catholicism” reflects the post-Vatican spirit. Post-Vatican popular hymnody, a catalyst for a new style of devotional practices, is understood as “performed theology” behind the Iron Curtain expressing relationality, as it actualizes and manifests spiritual, eschatological, and ecclesial relationships.
Journal of Global Catholicism: Vol. 4: Iss. 1, 2020
This article focuses on the unique dimensions of lived or vernacular Catholicism through the anal... more This article focuses on the unique dimensions of lived or vernacular Catholicism through the analysis of contemporary congregational music in Hungary. Looking at the musical lives of Hungarian Roman Catholics from the late 1960s to contemporary times can provide us with new understandings of the theological contents and aesthetics, as well as the vernacular religiosity of the community. Christian popular music appeared behind the Iron Curtain relatively early, in 1967 when the first “beat mass” was created and introduced at Budapest. The early Christian popular music sounded astonishingly similar to the songs of the American Folk Mass Movement of the 1960s without any connection between the two phenomena. The Communist dictatorship greatly influenced the ‘visibility,’ the characteristics of Christian popular music, and also its secrecy. Amongst authoritarian, atheistic circumstances, Christian popular music spread underground. The social dimension of this music was, therefore, an underground religious subculture that existed independently and was often prohibited by Church leaders. I give an overview of the reactions of the institutions (state authorities, churches) and persons connected to these authorities (priests, collaborators, secret police informers) and the participants of the emerging grassroots movement and analyze the inner tensions and attitudes of the opposing groups.
The present study examines the ambivalent connection between modernisation and Roman Catholic rel... more The present study examines the ambivalent connection between modernisation and Roman Catholic religion. It focuses on the appearance of popular music in a religious environment and seeks an answer to the question of how the official and lived religion responded to the changes of late modernity. What dynamic tensions arose from the different ways in which the Church and the communities of believers have judged in the past and judge today the invasive spread of Christian popular music? What connection is there between the emerging or reviving religious music styles and the various interpretations of religious modernisation?
The List of 84 Selected Abstracts for 2015 Gypsy Lore Society Annual Meeting and Conference on Gy... more The List of 84 Selected Abstracts for 2015 Gypsy Lore Society Annual Meeting and Conference on Gypsy/Romani Studies (Chisinau, Republic of Moldova, 10-12 September 2015).
In the article the author focuses on the Pentecostal-Charismatic Renewal
movements that attract... more In the article the author focuses on the Pentecostal-Charismatic Renewal
movements that attract rapidly increasing number of followers all over the world
and in recent years in Hungary as well. She intends to show how this fundamentally
Protestant-inspired trend appears within Catholic frameworks and look at
the demands and cultural processes behind the syncretising phenomenon. The
blurring of boundaries and the transposable patterns are clearly reflected in the
common use of the worship-song repertoire.
Barna Gábor - Povedák Kinga (szerk.) Lelkiségek, lelkiségi mozgalmak Magyarországon és Kelet-Közép Európában., 2014
RELIGION, MUSIC, COMMUNITY
The interferences of the Pentecostal-charismatic renewal
and the Cat... more RELIGION, MUSIC, COMMUNITY
The interferences of the Pentecostal-charismatic renewal
and the Catholic Charismatic Renewal
In my paper I focus on the Pentecostal-charismatic renewal movements with a
booming number of followers all over the world and in the course of time in
Hungary as well. I intend to introduce how this fundamentally protestant inspired
trend appears within Catholic frameworks and look at the needs and cultural
processes behind the syncretizing phenomenon. The blurring of boundaries and
the transposable patterns are clearly articulated in the common use of the worship-
song repertoire.
Barna Gábor - Kerekes Ibolya (szerk.) Vallás, egyén társadalom. , 2014
THE RECEPTION OF POPULAR CHRISTIAN MUSIC
IN HUNGARY DURING SOCIALIST TIMES
This paper investiga... more THE RECEPTION OF POPULAR CHRISTIAN MUSIC
IN HUNGARY DURING SOCIALIST TIMES
This paper investigates the debates that characterized the past decades since
popular religious music appeared in Hungarian church music scene. The new
style has been a topic of great controversy in various ways since its beginnings.
By many it is considered the most effective instrument for spreading Christianity
among younger generations. However, many opponents dislike the entering of
this modern church music rooted in popular culture into the realm of Christianity.
My paper focuses on the conflicts that reveal the differences between the „traditional”
and „modern” contemporary vernacular Chirstianity at once.
Monique Ingalls, Carolyn Landau and Tom Wagner (eds.) Christian Congregational Music Performance, Identity and Experience. Farnham, Ashgate. , Aug 2013
Acta Ethnographica Hungarica, 56 (1), pp. 29–39 (2011), 2011
Contemporary Christian music appeared in Hungary in the 1960s. In a unique period
of Hungary whe... more Contemporary Christian music appeared in Hungary in the 1960s. In a unique period
of Hungary when religion was suppressed and rock and roll was denounced, the merging of the two,
Christian rock music was even more disapproved during the communist regime. For many, contemporary
Christian music was more than simply music; it indicated opposition against the political system. Therefore
contemporary Christian music was an alternative music not only from a clerical but also from a political
point of view. This article tries to analyze the function of contemporary Christian music in listeners’ religious
folklife, their experience during listening to contemporary Christian music.
Contemporary Christian music appeared in Hungary in
the 1960s. In a unique period for Hungary wh... more Contemporary Christian music appeared in Hungary in
the 1960s. In a unique period for Hungary when religion was
suppressed and rock and roll was denounced, the merging of the
two, Christian and rock music was even more disapproved of during
the communist regime. For many, contemporary Christian music
was more than simply music; it indicated opposition to the political
system. Therefore contemporary Christian music was an alternative
music not only from a clerical but also from a political point of view.
From the middle of the 1970s there is an annual Christian “festival”
at Nagymaros with open-air masses and musical worship bringing
thousands together. Although from the 1980s contemporary
Christian music has been tolerated in several parishes – this way it
became indoor – the Nagymaros “festivals” remained one of the
biggest and most significant outdoor Christian events in Hungary
and East-Central Europe.
"Ha nagyvárosi aluljárókban sétálunk, gyakran találkozhatunk szintetizátorral, gi-tárral felszere... more "Ha nagyvárosi aluljárókban sétálunk, gyakran találkozhatunk szintetizátorral, gi-tárral felszerelt evangelizáló csoportokkal, akik fennhangon hirdetik a körülöttük összegyűlt néhány fős 'tömegnek', hogy Jézus itt van köztünk. Közben egy-egy ka-tolikus templomban az előre meghirdetett i úsági gitáros miséken megtelnek a pad-sorok középkorú hívekkel, akik néha unokáik társaságában érkeznek és szokatlan lelkesedéssel éneklik kedvenc Jenő-számaik refrénjét. Ha ezek után kilátogatunk egy Hillsong vagy Jesus Culture dicsőítő koncertre, több ezer, eksztázisban ugráló atal közé keveredhetünk, akik a koncert befejeztével autogrammért állnak sorba kedvenc énekesüknél. A keresztény rock ellenzői minderre felzúdultan hangoztatják évtize-dek óta, hogy az egész rockzene a sátántól származik." Povedák Kinga nemzetközi viszonylatban is hiánypótló könyvében olvashatjuk ezeket a sorokat. A kutatónak olyan hihetetlenül tarka és gazdag zenei világ rejtjeleit kellett megfejtenie és ösz-szeolvasnia, amelyben egymás mellett és egymással ötvöződnek az egy szál gitárral a tábortűz melletti összejöveteleknél előadott dalok, a pünkösdi istentiszteleteken megszólaló professzionális, liturgikus dalok, amelyek más esetben már stadionokban rendezett dicsőítő koncerteken fordulnak elő. Ide érthetők továbbá a katolikus mi-séken megszólaló gitáros kórusok, de az elmélyülést, meditációt, szakrális kommu-nikációt elősegítő Taizéi-dalok mellett szinte mindenféle zenei alkotás a keresztény rocktól az apostagi ökumenikus könnyűzenei fesztiválon elhangzó keresztény me-tál különböző változatai, másképpen: a Pasolini Máté evangéliumában is felhang-zó Missa Lubá-tól a Jézus Krisztus szupersztár-on keresztül az akkor 17 éves Szilas Imre-a világon legelső-rock-miséjéig. Ahhoz, hogy a szerző megragadhassa a keresztény könnyűzenét mint a társadalmi változásokra adott, és az egyházban zajló nyelvújítást felgyorsító választ, valamint az erre érkező világi és egyházi válaszokat, komplex vallástudományi (csak a legfontosabb elemeit említve: vallástörténeti, val-lásantropológiai, művészet-és vallásszociológiai) kutatások eredményeire támaszko-dó, több szólamban olvasható könyvet kellett írnia, egyaránt megfelelve a tudomá-nyosságnak és a "laikus" érdeklődök olvasmány-igényeinek. Nyomatékkal érzékelteti a szerző, hogy a keresztény könnyűzene halálosan komoly dolog. Míg a pártállam puha diktatúrája idején a rezsim szerette volna elhallgattatni, ma viszont attól kell tartani, hogy ez a protestáló és egyházat megújító zene a keresztény-konzervatív rendszerrel ideológiai harmóniában együttműködő egyházban kurzuszenévé válik, pedig-gyelmeztet a szerző-a keresztény könnyűzene atalok közötti népszerűsé-ge és a katolikus atalok egyre csökkenő száma egymással párban jár. Kamarás István OJD
The Secret Police and the Religious Underground in Communist and Post- Communist Eastern Europe, 2022
This book addresses the complex intersection of secret police operations and the formation of the... more This book addresses the complex intersection of secret police operations and the formation of the religious underground in communist-era Eastern Europe. It discusses how religious groups were perceived as dangerous to the totalitarian state whilst also being extremely vulnerable and yet at the same time very resourceful. It explores how this particular dynamic created the concept of the “religious underground” and produced an extremely rich secret police archival record. In a series of studies from across the region, the book explores the historical and legal context of secret police entanglement with religious groups, presents case studies on particular antireligious operations and groups, offers methodological approaches to the secret police materials for the study of religions, and engages in contemporary ethical and political debates on the legacy and meaning of the archives in post-communism.
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Papers by Kinga Povedak
In this paper, I present my ethical dilemma concerning a secret police case rich in surveillance images that I encountered during the course of my research in the Historical Archives of the Hungarian State Security (ÁBTL). After reading the operative file of a religious community under surveillance during the 1980s, I decided to approach the group, discuss the images and texts I had found about them, and involve them in the research process. However, the group expressed their explicit intention not to engage in the research process.
Even though the guidelines and legal framework regarding the publishing of secret police archival materials would allow me to publish the images and the content of the ÁBTL dossier, I decided to respect the religious community’s intention and their refusal to collaborate. I therefore discuss issues of different ethical standards and accountability in the light of my “failed” ethnographic attempt and reflect on the ethical responsibility of the researcher. I present how the visual images of this particular case file were eventually included in an exhibition in what I see as an ethically appropriate solution to articulate issues of distrust in researchers as a legacy of surveillance and past secret police atrocities.
Hungary is as yet located outside the official sphere of the Hillsong imaginary. This chapter looks at the international expansion of the Hillsong Movement and considers the significant influence it makes on Hungarian Christianity without even planting a congregation in the country. The chapter outlines the pentecostalization or charismatization of Hungarian Christianity through the example of the Hillsong phenomenon. The role of the internet and media is indisputable, similarly to the annual “Ez az a nap” (This is the day) Christian musical festival bringing the best-known praise-teams and worship leaders to Hungary. The transnational flow of worship practices is experienced through the vehicle of the Hillsong praise and worship music mediating a specific modern style of worship and cultural praxis.
movements that attract rapidly increasing number of followers all over the world
and in recent years in Hungary as well. She intends to show how this fundamentally
Protestant-inspired trend appears within Catholic frameworks and look at
the demands and cultural processes behind the syncretising phenomenon. The
blurring of boundaries and the transposable patterns are clearly reflected in the
common use of the worship-song repertoire.
The interferences of the Pentecostal-charismatic renewal
and the Catholic Charismatic Renewal
In my paper I focus on the Pentecostal-charismatic renewal movements with a
booming number of followers all over the world and in the course of time in
Hungary as well. I intend to introduce how this fundamentally protestant inspired
trend appears within Catholic frameworks and look at the needs and cultural
processes behind the syncretizing phenomenon. The blurring of boundaries and
the transposable patterns are clearly articulated in the common use of the worship-
song repertoire.
IN HUNGARY DURING SOCIALIST TIMES
This paper investigates the debates that characterized the past decades since
popular religious music appeared in Hungarian church music scene. The new
style has been a topic of great controversy in various ways since its beginnings.
By many it is considered the most effective instrument for spreading Christianity
among younger generations. However, many opponents dislike the entering of
this modern church music rooted in popular culture into the realm of Christianity.
My paper focuses on the conflicts that reveal the differences between the „traditional”
and „modern” contemporary vernacular Chirstianity at once.
of Hungary when religion was suppressed and rock and roll was denounced, the merging of the two,
Christian rock music was even more disapproved during the communist regime. For many, contemporary
Christian music was more than simply music; it indicated opposition against the political system. Therefore
contemporary Christian music was an alternative music not only from a clerical but also from a political
point of view. This article tries to analyze the function of contemporary Christian music in listeners’ religious
folklife, their experience during listening to contemporary Christian music.
the 1960s. In a unique period for Hungary when religion was
suppressed and rock and roll was denounced, the merging of the
two, Christian and rock music was even more disapproved of during
the communist regime. For many, contemporary Christian music
was more than simply music; it indicated opposition to the political
system. Therefore contemporary Christian music was an alternative
music not only from a clerical but also from a political point of view.
From the middle of the 1970s there is an annual Christian “festival”
at Nagymaros with open-air masses and musical worship bringing
thousands together. Although from the 1980s contemporary
Christian music has been tolerated in several parishes – this way it
became indoor – the Nagymaros “festivals” remained one of the
biggest and most significant outdoor Christian events in Hungary
and East-Central Europe.
Books by Kinga Povedak
In this paper, I present my ethical dilemma concerning a secret police case rich in surveillance images that I encountered during the course of my research in the Historical Archives of the Hungarian State Security (ÁBTL). After reading the operative file of a religious community under surveillance during the 1980s, I decided to approach the group, discuss the images and texts I had found about them, and involve them in the research process. However, the group expressed their explicit intention not to engage in the research process.
Even though the guidelines and legal framework regarding the publishing of secret police archival materials would allow me to publish the images and the content of the ÁBTL dossier, I decided to respect the religious community’s intention and their refusal to collaborate. I therefore discuss issues of different ethical standards and accountability in the light of my “failed” ethnographic attempt and reflect on the ethical responsibility of the researcher. I present how the visual images of this particular case file were eventually included in an exhibition in what I see as an ethically appropriate solution to articulate issues of distrust in researchers as a legacy of surveillance and past secret police atrocities.
Hungary is as yet located outside the official sphere of the Hillsong imaginary. This chapter looks at the international expansion of the Hillsong Movement and considers the significant influence it makes on Hungarian Christianity without even planting a congregation in the country. The chapter outlines the pentecostalization or charismatization of Hungarian Christianity through the example of the Hillsong phenomenon. The role of the internet and media is indisputable, similarly to the annual “Ez az a nap” (This is the day) Christian musical festival bringing the best-known praise-teams and worship leaders to Hungary. The transnational flow of worship practices is experienced through the vehicle of the Hillsong praise and worship music mediating a specific modern style of worship and cultural praxis.
movements that attract rapidly increasing number of followers all over the world
and in recent years in Hungary as well. She intends to show how this fundamentally
Protestant-inspired trend appears within Catholic frameworks and look at
the demands and cultural processes behind the syncretising phenomenon. The
blurring of boundaries and the transposable patterns are clearly reflected in the
common use of the worship-song repertoire.
The interferences of the Pentecostal-charismatic renewal
and the Catholic Charismatic Renewal
In my paper I focus on the Pentecostal-charismatic renewal movements with a
booming number of followers all over the world and in the course of time in
Hungary as well. I intend to introduce how this fundamentally protestant inspired
trend appears within Catholic frameworks and look at the needs and cultural
processes behind the syncretizing phenomenon. The blurring of boundaries and
the transposable patterns are clearly articulated in the common use of the worship-
song repertoire.
IN HUNGARY DURING SOCIALIST TIMES
This paper investigates the debates that characterized the past decades since
popular religious music appeared in Hungarian church music scene. The new
style has been a topic of great controversy in various ways since its beginnings.
By many it is considered the most effective instrument for spreading Christianity
among younger generations. However, many opponents dislike the entering of
this modern church music rooted in popular culture into the realm of Christianity.
My paper focuses on the conflicts that reveal the differences between the „traditional”
and „modern” contemporary vernacular Chirstianity at once.
of Hungary when religion was suppressed and rock and roll was denounced, the merging of the two,
Christian rock music was even more disapproved during the communist regime. For many, contemporary
Christian music was more than simply music; it indicated opposition against the political system. Therefore
contemporary Christian music was an alternative music not only from a clerical but also from a political
point of view. This article tries to analyze the function of contemporary Christian music in listeners’ religious
folklife, their experience during listening to contemporary Christian music.
the 1960s. In a unique period for Hungary when religion was
suppressed and rock and roll was denounced, the merging of the
two, Christian and rock music was even more disapproved of during
the communist regime. For many, contemporary Christian music
was more than simply music; it indicated opposition to the political
system. Therefore contemporary Christian music was an alternative
music not only from a clerical but also from a political point of view.
From the middle of the 1970s there is an annual Christian “festival”
at Nagymaros with open-air masses and musical worship bringing
thousands together. Although from the 1980s contemporary
Christian music has been tolerated in several parishes – this way it
became indoor – the Nagymaros “festivals” remained one of the
biggest and most significant outdoor Christian events in Hungary
and East-Central Europe.
the same time very resourceful. It explores how this particular dynamic created the concept of the “religious underground” and produced an extremely rich secret police archival record. In a series of studies from across the region, the book explores the historical and legal context of
secret police entanglement with religious groups, presents case studies on particular antireligious operations and groups, offers methodological approaches to the secret police materials for the study of religions, and engages in contemporary ethical and political debates on the
legacy and meaning of the archives in post-communism.