Hungarian church official says he supported hunger strike by Jesuits

Published: 2008-01-14

WARSAW, Poland (CNS) -- The general secretary of the Hungarian bishops' conference applauded a recent hunger strike by Jesuit priests protesting social and economic conditions in the East European country. "Although the bishops didn't support this action directly, we can be happy it happened. It's a positive sign of democracy in the church and a reminder that clergy have a right to a pluralism of opinions," Father P. Laszlo Nemet, general secretary and spokesman, told Catholic News Service Jan. 11. Fathers Laszlo Vertesaljai and Jozsef Hofher suspended their 18-day hunger strike Jan. 6. They were protesting a bill to privatize health care, which was passed by the Hungarian parliament in December. The MTI news agency reported that 27 other clergy had fasted and prayed in support of the protest. In a Jan. 4 statement to Hungarian newspapers, Father Hofher said the action was "a silent scream" in solidarity with the country's poor.

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