Paper short abstract:

In my planned presentation, I would like to show how the authorities tried to restrict the activities of these places and the clergy serving there, by giving examples from Hungary during the communist takeover after the Second World War and during the period of socialism.

Paper long abstract:

For centuries, shrines and pilgrimages have been the main venues for dealing with individual or collective crises and for healing the body. Visits to these places, and involvement in the events that take place there, also play an important role in the event of/after historical and social crises. In my planned presentation, I would like to show how the authorities tried to restrict the activities of these places and the clergy serving there, by giving examples from Hungary during the communist takeover after the Second World War and during the period of socialism. I would like to place special emphasis on the analysis of the propaganda against shrines, pilgrimages and holy wells located there, and the main motives behind it. I will also look at the reactions of the faithful and their priests. The sources of my research are archival documents, Historia Domus of the settlements, press publications and historical monograph of shrines.