Hungary After Orbán: The First Purges and the Church Facing the New Majority

After Orbán's fall, the new Hungarian majority initiates dismissals in institutions. Brussels welcomes the normalization. For the Hungarian Catholic Church, a period of uncertainty begins.

The Fact

In Hungary, since the Magyar Party came to power, dismissals and replacements in public institutions have begun—described as purges by conservative observers. The European Union hailed this shift as a democratic normalization: on June 29, Ursula von der Leyen attended Budapest’s first Pride since Orbán’s fall, a strong institutional signal of the new direction. The framework agreement between Hungary and the Holy See, negotiated under Orbán and guaranteeing funding for Catholic schools, could be called into question in the coming months.

Our Analysis

Religious freedom is not a privilege granted by political majorities: it is a natural right, rooted in the dignity of the human person. The Second Vatican Council defined it as immunity from any external coercion in religious matters, stemming from the very nature of the human person (Dignitatis Humanae, 2). Whether this right was protected by a nationalist government or is now threatened by a progressive government backed by Brussels, the logic remains the same: the Church cannot base its freedom of action solely on electoral alternations. The European normalization celebrated by the Commission in Budapest is, in fact, also a pressure on Hungarian Catholic institutions and schools. The Polish precedent—where Tusk’s arrival immediately triggered a review of religious funding—is instructive.

For Reflection

"Do not conform to the pattern of this world" (Rom 12:2). The Church in Hungary will have to negotiate its freedom of action with a new majority that speaks a different language from Orbán’s, but which may be just as constraining in its effects. Vigilance is required; appeals to the ECHR, if religious freedom is violated, remain an open avenue.