Archbishop `elected' to Red front

ACCORDING to Radio Budapest, Archbishop Grosz of Kalocsa, acting head of the Hungarian Bishops' Conference, has been "elected" to the national council of the Patriotic People's Front.
The aim of this organisation is' to fight "for the political and economic strengthening of the (Hungarian) Peoples Republic." j Archbishop Grosz is acting as hcad of the hierarchy during the absence of Cardinal Mindszenty. Ile was released by the Reds in the spring of 1956 after serving five years of a 15-year prison term.
Observers in Vienna see the election of the Archbishop to the national council of the P.P.F. as a major propaganda move. The Lutheran Bishop Ordass, who was also elected to the council. seems to be in a similar position. He, too has spent years in jail.
One of the speakers at thc meeting during which these elections took place was the Premier, Janos Kadar. Another was the Deputy Premier, Antal Apro, who was elected president of the P.P.F.
THEY SAY .. .
Kadar said : "The composition of the membership of the national council is quite varied. To mention the two elements which arc furthest apart, Mgr. Grosz here today, as is Antal Apro, president of the national council of the P.P.F. A Communist and a high-ranking clergyman ! Is such co-operation possible . . .? I declare that it is possible."
Apro said that an individual does not have to become a Communist to become a member of the " It is not even obligatory for him to see eye to eye with us on all problems," he added. "The P.P.F. movement is open to people who do not adhere to Communist ideology and even to individuals who may entertain religious beliefs.
" AlI that is required is that one acknowledge that the building of Socialism represents the only road that can lead the Hungarian people toward a happier future and that the building of Socialism can be achieved only under the leadership of the party and the working class.
" He who agrees with us on this question, on the creation of a Socialist Hungary, will remain with us and support the activities of the party and government.