I read an intriguing post by a Hungarian man who left the country when the communists took over. He emigrated to Canada and went on to complete his education at Yale.

He wrote a post late last year which addressed, in part, the role that Catholic church leaders played in assisting the Hungarian secret service which was part of the communist rule. I don’t know if his claims are substantiated, but it doesn’t sound far fetched given the typical modus operandi of communist governments throughout history.

Anyway, he states that during the communist years the Catholic leadership gave “unfailing support” to the secret service.  Again, it’s not all that surprising. But it does cause me to wonder how such a relationship has impacted the culture. Hungarians are apparently known for being cynical. I certainly read it in many of the blogs I follow. I wonder how many parents from one generation ago were hardened against the church (and, by proxy, Jesus) because of the sins of those who were supposed to be trustworthy shepherds.

I also wonder how much of that distrust now lives in the 20 and 30-something Hungarians. The post also mentions a “theologian and staunch apologist for the Catholic Church” who is in the public light present-day. No problem there,except that the author also mentions a book on the Hungarian secret service which names this same man as “was working for the Hungarian secret service under the cover name ‘Lukács’”.

I try to imagine what it would be like to survive life under communism, only to see people who were collaborating with the secret service now operating as public figures and still striving for power and influence. It’s getting easier to see perhaps, why Hungarians are so cynical and pessimistic.

This gives me hope though, because the gospel is able to withstand the most critical and cynical minds. Truly, it has done so since it was first proclaimed. It’s what the cynic desires most, something genuine, true, and trustworthy. It’s what the pessimist secretly hopes for, something that doesn’t disappoint, something that can redeem a person out of the mire of this world and make them whole.