Greek Catholic Church of Hungary

Hungarian Greek Catholic Church
Magyar Görögkatolikus Egyház
Classification	Catholic
Orientation	Eastern Catholic
Polity	Episcopal
Governance	Metropolitanate
Metropolite	Péter Fülöp Kocsis
Associations	Congregation for the Oriental Churches
Language	hungarian
Headquarters	Debrecen and Hajdúdorog, Hungary
Origin	1912 Hungary
Separated from	Hungarian Catholic Church
Congregations	187
Members	326,200

The Greek Catholic Church of Hungary or the Hungarian Greek Catholic Church is a sui iuris Eastern Catholic church in Hungary within the Catholic Church.

On March 20, 2015, it became an independent church directly subordinated to Rome. Before that, it was part of the Hungarian Catholic Church.

Greek Catholic Basilica in Máriapócs

History

Greek Catholics in Hungary originally lived in the northeastern part of the country. Historically, this area was home to Byzantine Rite Christians from the Carpathian Mountains. Later, after the Turks were driven out of Vienna in 1683 and Buda and central Hungary in 1686, Ruthenians and Slovaks settled in the abandoned lands of Hungary. They were under the care of the Ruthenian Eparchy of Mukachevo.

During the 17th and 18th centuries, in times of conflict with Protestants, many Hungarians joined the Greek Catholic Church. Instead of following the Latin Rite, they adopted the Byzantine Rite, which significantly increased their numbers.

Because of their growing Hungarian identity, Byzantine Hungarian communities started using the Hungarian language in their church services. In 1795, a Hungarian translation of the Liturgy of Saint John Chrysostom was published for personal study. Later, in 1862, a book with the parts of the liturgy sung by the congregation was released.

In 1868, representatives from 58 Hungarian-speaking parishes gathered to form an organization. Their goals were to promote the use of Hungarian in church services and to create a separate eparchy. In 1882, a Hungarian translation of the Liturgy of Saint John Chrysostom was published for actual use, even though it didn’t have formal church approval. Soon after, more Hungarian translations of liturgical texts followed.

On June 8, 1912, Pope Pius X created the Eparchy of Hajdúdorog for the 162 Hungarian-speaking Greek Catholic parishes. He allowed Hungarian to be used only in non-liturgical functions and required that Greek be used during liturgy. However, a transition period of three years was granted for this change. Due to the outbreak of World War I, the transition period was extended indefinitely, and the use of Hungarian in liturgy has continued.

The church had a unique situation under the hungarian Communist regime. Unlike Greek Catholic churches in Romania, Slovakia, or Soviet Ukraine, it was not banned or heavily persecuted. This relative leniency was likely due to the church's small size, its poverty (northeast Hungary, where most members live, was the country's poorest region).

On March 20, 2015, Pope Francis elevated the Hungarian Greek Catholic Church to a separate metropolia with its seat in Debrecen. He appointed Bishop Péter Fülöp Kocsis as its first metropolite.