Page 61 - The Voyage of Hungarian Christian Democracy - Edited by Mária Rita Kiss

elaborating on the KDNP’s church policy programme, the document underscored that
“standing on an ecumenical basis, the party accepts and represents social teaching of churches”
and strives to ensure “the freedom of church activities serving the whole of society and provide
for the conditions thereof, for religious, cultural, educational and social activities alike.” The
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statements reporting on the work of congress sections offer extensive insight into how the
party planned to adapt the person-oriented approach into political practice. Miklós Lukáts,
leader of the “Man and society” section emphasized the debate on state aid to churches.
Representing the “Education section”, Sándor Tóth focused on introducing moral philosophy
as a subject at schools and Miklós Gáspár underscored the harmonization of legislation and
Christian values, establishing a closer connection between law and morals.
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Similarly to its predecessor, the party continued to maintain close ties with the
Catholic church in its actual operation. However, organizational solutions were developed to
strengthen the party’s ecumenical nature. The example was taken from the CDU, as the
Protestant Workshop of the Christian Democratic People’s Party was modelled after its
counterpart unit within the CDU. From an identity policy viewpoint, the workshop was
intended to demonstrate that the KDNP is not only for Catholics. In 1992, under the

leadership of Miklós Lukáts, the KDNP’s protestant MPs set up a Protestant Workshop,
organized as an intellectual cluster within the party. In June 1992, they contacted the leader
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of CDU’s Protestant Office and sent a delegation to the CDU’s federal meeting. In addition to
promoting the participation of Protestants in public life, the workshop also intended to
provide a political alternative to non-Catholic Christians. According to the letter of
foundation, the workshop was established on 31 October 1993 with the objective of
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“contributing with evangelical faith” to the democratization of Hungary’s public life and to
“making Hungary European again based on shared Christian values.” They built ties to the
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national leaders of protestant churches and to local congregations. Workshop members came
from the KDNP’s protestant membership, supporting members, pastors, presbyters and the
faithful. The organization received funding from the KDNP’s annual budget.
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Changes in the KDNP’s electoral support in those years enable a realistic assessment of
efforts to create a modern Christian worldview party image. Compared to prior years, the
party’s ratings did not change significantly in 1992 either, even though the party’s
communication became more professional. The KDNP seemed to have locked itself up with
291

285 A kongresszus üzenete. Ember és társadalom fejezet. [Message of the Congress. Man and Society Chapter.] MPÉ. op. cit. 1993.
286 Section work was reported on in a Pesti Hírlap article. Nem vagyunk biztonságban. [We are not Safe] Pesti Hírlap. April 1992.
287
The KDNP’s home page renders another story of re-foundation: The KDNP’s Protestant Workshop was founded on the day after the opening worship of the
European Protestant Convention held in Budapest on 25 March 1992. In addition to state secretary Miklós Lukács, in attendance were MPs Ferenc Inotay and
József Mózs, Calvinist pastors Gyula Boross and Sándor Tenke, and Lutheran pastor István Rőzse. Cf. http://kdnp.hu/protestans-muhely viewed on 28 June
2015.
288 Miklós Lukáts became chairman of the workshop, while Lajos Békefy was general secretary. Vice chairpersons: Gyula Boross, Péter Kádár, Réka Nyitrai,
József Takács, Béla Turnay. In 1996, Lukáts Miklós was followed in the chairman seat by dr. György Horkay, a grammar school teacher and chief Calvinist
education advisor. From 2010 and 2013, the Protestant workshop was led by László Szászfalvi and Antal Birkás, respectively.
289Not numbered. Information on the KDNP’s Protestant Workshop for communication use. 14 October 1993. Party documents. Executive board documents.
1993.
290 The international relations of the Protestant Workshop are presented in Éva Petrás’s study herein.
291 According to Medián’s research, KDNP’s likeability index varied in the 39-35% range in 1992. Among those who were sure to vote, 5-6% said between
March 1990 and 1992 that they would vote for the KDNP. Government parties were considered likeable by older and faithful people. In this research, the
average age of KDNP voters was deemed to be 56. Among those respondents who said they would surely vote for the KDNP, 76% were faithful. The same ratio
was 62% for the MDF and 60% for the FKgP. Fidesz, KDNP and MDF where slightly more popular among women than among men. The likeability index of the
KDNP and the FKgP was higher among people with lower education living in the countryside than among other groups of society. Cf. Political public opinion in
Medián’s research findings. MPÉ about 1992. 1993.

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