The Community-forming Traits of Catholic Parish Councils by Local Sources (1920–1950)

Abstract

The records of parish councils not only provide information about the operation of parish, the calculations or the election of members, but the definition of their own role in the everyday life of the community. In this research, I focus on local characteristics and examine the role of catholic parish councils in different settlements. In general, the councils acted on behalf of the whole parish in both internal and external cases by the executive members who ordinarily also held leading positions in the local civil administration. The councils represented the rights and interests of the Catholic communities. As the models of self-organisation, they not only decided on economic issues, but also linked the education, the various religious and social groups of the parishes. After 1945 parishes protested against the state violence and the Soviet-style political system, but their influence was gradually lost. The distribution of land in 1945 was not only the first radical step in breaking down the church autonomies, but brought many employees to the brink of starvation. Subsequently, the parishes could not fulfil their role in operating the institutions which led to the secularisation of schools. The exclusion from the social and cultural sector also meant the disintegration of traditional community networks.