WHEN Róbert Bezák was chosen to become the
archbishop of Trnava in 2009, to the surprise of many people including
himself, he soon came to be seen as a symbol of a generational change in
Slovakia’s Roman Catholic Church.
Two years later, he prefers not to
comment on any peccadilloes of his predecessors and dismisses it as part
of the past while focusing on his mission and his quest to make
Catholicism a living part of society.
In an interview with The Slovak
Spectator, Bezák spoke about his mission, his views on the diversity of
the contemporary world, and the role of Roman Catholicism, the religion
of some 70 percent of Slovaks, in the world of the 21st century.
The Slovak Spectator (TSS): When you were appointed as archbishop
of the Trnava Archdiocese you were perceived as a symbol of a change.
What is new about your approach?
Róbert Bezák (RB): My ambition is to link the present to the
past glory of the archdiocese because Trnava has always been an
important centre of Christianity in Slovakia; but I also would like to
move it further into the wider European space. At the start I was
thinking how to enable the Roman Catholic Church, and mainly our
diocese, to be perceived as part of the central European space. And that
is where my idea to open up our churches is rooted, so that they are
not strictly only places of religion, but also places of art, music and
culture. I was pleased to find that in the surrounding countries
churches have already launched this dimension, so we got in touch with
Vienna, Brno, Olomouc, Hradec Králové, and also with places in Germany
and the Netherlands where they have also opened their churches for one
day for other than religious purposes. I’m glad that we too have already
had our first Slovak Night of Churches [in May 2011]. For me it was a
dream-come-true because there were times when one couldn’t think of
inviting people to church; during the communist regime the church was
treated strictly as a private place and if one went there one had to
reckon with risks.
TSS: Was the Night of Churches received positively or have you
also heard negative voices in Trnava, which has the image of a rather
conservative town?
RB: It was a kind of a test not only for the people of Trnava
but also for my own colleagues, the priests. Many of them were telling
me everything is alright, that people still go to church and we don’t
need to promote the church as they do in the west. But I used my powers I
have as an archbishop to try and move their thinking further. The truth
is that Slovak Christianity lives its own life in a way. We have no
important theologians whom we could present to the world. Perhaps it
sometimes seems that our Christianity is the Christianity of pilgrimages
and elderly people, but I believe that deep inside there is a potential
of an intellectual approach. That’s why I felt like I needed to push
forward modernisation and more openness of the Catholic Church. And I
believe I’ve managed to do so a little bit. It’s not only about the
Night of Churches. I’d like to move the Slovak Roman Catholic Church
into the European flow in the theological, charity and social areas as
well. We’ve got a lot to learn from our colleagues from the surrounding
countries – how they help people in need.
TSS: What is the difference between the Roman Catholic Church in Slovakia and abroad?
RB: Sometimes they say we are too conservative, afraid of
what’s new. It’s true. Slovaks are more comfortable with emotiveness and
familiarity, while rationality is still to be discovered. But elsewhere
it’s the emotions that are missing, also in religion. There is a lack
of joy from closeness, from the encounter. And then, the historical
development was different. The churches around us have had to deal with
other religions, and with Protestantism, which has caused shifts within
the Roman Catholic Church too. In Slovakia that was less significant. It
was a rural country where life followed a natural rhythm – work in
spring and in summer, harvest in autumn, and rest in winter. And the
religion accompanied this natural rhythm of life. There were few cities
to serve as intellectual centres. Our development was simply different
and we need time. Many people who studied abroad are coming back to
Slovakia nowadays. They speak foreign languages and bring along new
ideas. So I believe the summer has yet to come for the Slovak Roman
Catholic Church.
TSS: Looking inside the churches during religious services,
Slovaks still seem to be attracted, in comparison with other European
countries.
RB: Churches seem full. During communism no new churches were
built and thus those that we’ve got seem filled. The question is what
the depth of the experience is. Sometimes I ask myself whether our
believers live their personal experience with faith or whether they just
submit to formalism, tradition, and the expectations of their
surroundings. Here I must admit there is a long way ahead of us, from
the mass experience to the personal experience. Sometimes it seems many
people haven’t processed certain religious values inside; that they are
not trying to understand them – but they still make it to church and
participate at least externally.
TSS: The Roman Catholic Church was criticised for promoting
formalism when it ran motivational campaigns before the census
encouraging people to mark their religion in the census forms. Does it
make sense for the church to have these ‘formal members’ even if they do
not live with the religion in any way?
RB: As long as someone is still willing to say he or she is a
Catholic, it shows something. Even if the religion has no practical
dimension in the life of that person there is still the inner
identification with Christianity. And that’s a good sign too. The
question is whether we should perceive it in this very simple sense, or
whether Catholicism should also be a force present in society. That is
where statistics are not enough. I’d be glad if it wasn’t only about
statistical data; I’d like Catholicism to be more visible practically.
But the fact is that we live in a society that considers numbers.
Democratic society counts votes. And the Roman Catholic Church is also
considered according to how many votes it has got. This dimension of
democracy is thus also important for us. The more votes, the happier we
are; but we are aware that it is not the most important expression of
Christianity in Slovakia.
TSS: What does the Roman Catholic Church offer to its believers
today as they face new dilemmas? It does not always seem to be able to
respond to current issues.
RB: The Roman Catholic Church is not an abstract institution;
it’s composed of people. And together we are looking for answers. I
don’t have them ready either; this world often surprises me with its
opinions, its dynamics. I grew up not knowing what a computer or a cell
phone is and today I can hardly do without them. Questions come faster
than the answers. The life and morality of people moves at a tremendous
speed and sometimes the only answers we’ve got are those from the past
and they don’t always fit the present. The Roman Catholic Church must
look for its own way to modernise itself. In Slovakia we lived for 40
years [during communism] only in our private lives, closed in the
churches, and it was only very recently that we opened them up. But we
also need to preserve our own identity rather than trying to please
people at any price. The search is a common effort. I want to believe
in the good will of people to search for the meaning of life, the
meaning of relationships, and I want to believe that this concerns not
only the elderly, but also young people who want to be happy. So we also
want to ask what being happy means and search for the answers in the
Bible. What is essential is close to everyone. Perhaps the costumes are
different but the man is always the same.
TSS: One of the current challenges is diversity in all areas of life. For instance, non-heterosexual people are demanding their rights and want to be accepted and respected by society and that is not always in line with the teachings of the Roman Catholic Church.
RB: Various differences are an issue within our Christian
families too. For instance, the rising number of divorces does not
concern only the worldly space, but also the Christian one. New
phenomena within human relations appear. On the one hand they say that
love doesn’t need a document – which is a problem for the Roman Catholic
Church because it wants people who love each other to say it aloud and
sign their commitment – on the other hand there are people who so very
much want the document for homosexual couples. And the truth is that the
Roman Catholic Church looks at some human relationships and expressions
of love and sexuality with its “thousand-year-old” view. It’s not a
dynamic organisation that lives only for the present moment. When I as a
bishop talk to people about marriage, it is based on the tradition that
has been here for 2,000 years and even before. I'm not moving in a
space where I could say whatever crosses my mind. There are some
divorced people among my relatives as well and I accept it. I feel sorry
for that, but I tolerate it; but sometimes I ask myself where the
borderline is. Does tolerance mean that everyone can do whatever they
want?
And then the question is how much we can accept each other. So that
it’s not that “you must accept me but I don’t like the fact that you are
a Catholic and that you have your principles, because then your opinion
about contraception and abortion is wrong”. Sometimes it seems that
Christianity should more and more open itself to the world and accept
its opinions but it is expected not to present its opinions and adjust.
But many of our opinions are Biblical, such as the creation of a man and
a woman, Adam and Eve. On some issues the Bible really offers clear
borders. I feel we might approach a point that will be hard to pass
through. There are many questions that might be easy to talk about but
in the end it may not be that simple. I’d be glad if the Roman Catholic
Church stayed responsible, even at the expense that it won’t be
immediate in its statements about these issues.
TSS: Diversity is starting to show in the religious area and it is
likely that the inflow of immigrants will intensify and they will bring
their own religious traditions that are different from those
established in Slovakia. Is the Roman Catholic Church ready for that?
RB: That will be the test of our ability to love, not only
emotionally but also rationally. I’m looking forward to that because I
think that it will tell us something about ourselves too. As long as
everything is alright we don’t even know who we are. But it is in hard
times that it really shows what it means to live as a Christian: whether
spouses are willing to remain faithful to each other, whether they’ll
be willing to protect life. That all shows only when the world around
moves along a different track. The religions that will come here will be
something like a competition for us. And the best one – not the most
aggressive one, but the one with the best heart and the willingness to
help – could be the winner. Not everything is equally strong. I’d like
to see that Christianity still has something to say, because it talks
about Christ, about the mutual sacrifice in love and about the offer of
life. That is what we want to develop also in the practical dimension:
charity, helping the homeless, helping the people excluded from society.
This is what can resonate strongly also in those who don’t believe.
Christianity could play a major role there. Just like Mother Theresa,
who was precious because she offered help to people, even though another
religion prevailed in India. But that religion perhaps wasn’t that
strong in helping people. So let many other religions come and I believe
mine will show its great force.
TSS: Does ecumenical dialogue work well in Slovakia?
RB: In that area we are still only searching and I’m afraid we
are too focused on external matters that make religions different from
each other – forgetting that every real religion is an invitation to
love. This is how we should approach others, without trying to devour
them, letting them live their own identity. There is a lot of work
ahead. We are trying to cooperate in our small area with other churches.
At the end there is always the same encounter, at the same place.