Absztrakt

The Catholic Bokor Base Community was founded in the late 1960s by a Piarist monk, György Bulányi (1919–2010). Their small community format was modelled on the early Church and they consistently implemented the principle of universal priesthood, rereading and reinterpretating the Gospels in small groups–upholding the idea of the ultimate renewal of the Church’s mission and structure. These tenets together made the practice of this community unique both within the Hungarian Catholic Church and among small Christian communities before the change of regime. The study outlines the group profile of priests who joined the Bokor community: who could identify with the theology and practice of Bokor during the 1970s and 1980s, for longer or shorter periods? How was the first Bokor community of priests formed, how did this type of relational network develop around Bulányi, and what kind of layers did it have? What was the generational distribution of Bokor priests in later years and which seminaries did they come from? What conflicts did they have with their church superiors? Did they remain steadfast in their priestly vocation, or did they eventually choose a secular life?