Magyar_Ifjusag_2012_tanulmanykotet

Gergely Rosta: Practising faith and religionSummary of the volume of studiesIn his analysis of questions concerning religion included in the HungarianYouth 2012 survey, Gergely Rosta points out that figures for 2012 fit into thetrends laid out by earlier surveys, a brief summary of which is that religionholds significance for an increasingly small proportion of young people. However,the fact that those adhering to religion outside the framework of churcheshas also decreased can be categorised as a new phenomenon. This meansthat although within the group of those classifying themselves as religious,those practicising religion “their own way” are still the clear majority, thegeneral trend based on figures for 2012 is not one of individualisation butrather seclurarisation and becoming indeferrent towards questions of faith.There are diverse reasons behind this phenomenon. Without doubt, thefact that the generation of today’s 15 to 29-year olds’ parents mostly establishedtheir social contacts is the 1960s and 1970s, a period marked by theclear decline of religion in Hungary, plays a role in this tendency. On the otherhand, despite the rising proportion of students studying at church-runschools, it is apparent that the lack of primary religious socialisation canbe substituted by school environment only to a very small extent, if at all.Families’ efforts to hand on religion to offspring is diminishing and has a lowlevel of efficiency. Last but not least, social modernisation, slowly improvingliving standards and access to higher education for an ever broadeningsection of the population undoubtedly contribute to the assessment on therole of religion among today’s young Hungarians, which envisages an overwhelminglysecular Hungarian society for the future.357