Reformátusok Lapja, 1969 (69. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)

1969-10-01 / 10. szám

REFORMÁTUSOK LAPJA

11

Andrew Harsányi

A Brief Survey of the Office of Bishop in the Reformed Church in Hungary

(Continued from previous issue)

This need became more and more pressing during the eighteenth century. Roman Catholic bishops and other Roman Catholic high clergy (abbots, etc.) had their political status as members of the diet, but Protestant church leaders did not. Thus the political protection gradually and automatically became the duty of Reformed noblemen (and magnates). And when Charles III decreed that the diet could not discuss religious questions any more, the Reformed (and, of course, the Lutheran) Church was in need of some sort of political protection more than ever. When one of the prominent noblemen, Paul Ráday, was called the “general curator of the entire Reformed Church,” it was only a title of gratitude. In 1734, however, the Conventus of Bodrogkeresztur declared the need for general curators to stand by the bishops and for assistant curators to stand by the seniors. The bishops accepted this new structure officially (except in the Transtibiscan District.) However, the idea of having a general curator over all church districts as well as a general consistorium did not materialize although it was attempted (Miklós Beleznai, 1773). The districts remained independent from each other. The II Carolina Resolution in 1734 brought a change to the effect that by fixing the number of church districts in the Reformed Church to 4, the Cistibiscan District finally elected its first bishop in 1735. Let it be mentioned that the idea of having curators may have stemmed from Transylvania, where there had been a Supremum Consistorium consisting of clergy and prominent laymen since 1709.

The influence of the lay element did not go unchallenged, particularly in the Transtibiscan District, which, as mentioned above, did not welcome the office of curator. A test of strength came to the fore when Bishop István Szathmári Paksi died in 1791, and the clergy agreed to let only the clergy vote for the new bishop. Miklós Sinai, a prominent professor at the College of Debrecen was thus elected. He was a defender of the “old rights.” His election, however, had to be confirmed by the King. But General Secretary (of the Transtibiscan District) Ferenc Hunyadi, Sinai’s adversary, refused to deliver the seal of t he district. Although all 13 seniors rushed to Debrecen with their seals to seal the document needed to petition the King’s confirmation so Sinai could go to Vienna, the laymen declared Sinai’s election invalid, convened another synod and called upon the congregations for a new vote, reminding them that they could vote against the wish of their pastors. This

action was sufficient to have Hunyadi elected bishop, to depose Sinai, and even to deprive him of his chair at the College of Debrecen. Upon appeal, the King decided for Hunyadi, followed by the 9-ycar-long so-called Sinai process, characteristic of the battle between the (not quite correctly named) hierarchical and kyriarchical parties and principles. Most interesting in the whole matter was the final, constitutional foundation of the regimen ecclesiasticum mixtum, the parity of clergy and lay element in the leadership of church government.

The diet of 1790-91 restored the legal status of the two Protestant Churches. Its decisions were entered as Article XXVI into the Corpus Iuris Hun- garici. Important as this was, it did not contain any major change in regard to the bishop’s office. It is interesting to note, however, that this law has never officially received the King’s confirmation—directly that is. In 1819 the Transtibiscan Synod voted to implement the provisions of this law. Bishop Mihály Benedek appealed to the King on the grounds that the law had never been confirmed by the crown. The King referred the matter to the General Conventus of the four church districts (provided by the article and, in fact, functioning)—thus indirectly confirming 1791 :XXVI.

The hierarchical-kyriarchical fight flared up again in 1841 over the dispute whether the meeting of the Conventus (the joint meeting of the districts) should have single or dual chairmanship. A new general synod was to be called, but subsequent historical events (1848-49) prevented it. After the op- presive measures following the unsuccessful war of liberation, the compromise of 1867 opened the door to a final consolidation. The opposition of the Transtibiscan District prolonged it for another 14 years. The need for the unification of the Church was widely accepted. This called for the transformation of the General Conventus from a merely consultative into an executive body. The Transtibiscan District, however, was against the establishment of a uniform, national church administration (although they accepted the idea of uniform church laws). After two unsuccessful attempts and four years of preparation, the Synod of Debrecen, in 1881 created the final, all-comprehensive and unified church constitution— which with several subsequent amendments, was in effect until the recently enacted new church laws. Including now also Transylvania, the Reformed Church in Hungary had 5 districts, with all judicatories constituted on a parity basis of clergy and lay elements. The bishop and general curator, senior in rank, were to become presidents of the General Conventus and of the General Synod. As of 1885, ranking bishops and general curators of the Protestant