The working people of parishes, or the (power) games around post-1945 Roman Catholic church building

Abstract

In my study, I will first write about the figures of Roman Catholic church building after 1945 and the possibilities of building projects. Then, through the history of the construction of the church of Tiszaeszlár, I will give examples of the circumstances, difficulties and problem-solving strategies, power games that characterised church construction (and the rhetorical turns that often use the concept of the working people to refer to them) after the Second World War. The church of Tiszaeszlár, originally built in 1895, was blown up by the Germans in October 1944. The intention to rebuild the church was already expressed in 1945, but due to the poverty of the parishioners, the construction could not begin. Later on, political opposi-tion to the church and tightened permitting rules prevented the works. Correspondence between the parish, the secular and the ecclesiastical authorities reveals the influence of po- litical propaganda and the disillusionment with it, as well as the varying rhetoric of the various actors’ intentions to promote the church’s construction.