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Pastoral care for the Gypsies/Romas: Societal engagement of the Churches

Published:
2020-06-30
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Oláh, D. (2020). Pastoral care for the Gypsies/Romas: Societal engagement of the Churches. CROSS-SECTIONS - Social Science Journal, 9(2), 86-106. https://doi.org/10.18392/metsz/2020/2/4
Abstract

In my adolescence, I noticed that in my small hometown village of Nógrád County, the majority
of the Romani don’t attend mass and sever their ties with Roman Catholic religion. This tendency
remains to this very day, and I continue to experience the same thing where I now live in Pest
County. What could be the reason for this separation? I set out to find the answer with the help
of twenty years of experience as a divinity teacher and my previous empirical sociology research.
Is the clergy to be blamed for the large numbers of Gypsies and non-Gypsies leaving the fold?
I wanted to personally find an answer to the question from the concerned parties. Therefore,
at the permission of the bishop of the Diocese of Vác, as a Roman Catholic civilian theologian,
I visited the pastors of the Historical Churches at the various offices and parishes to ask them
questions about the Romani.