Calvin Synod Herald, 1977 (77. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)
1977-05-01 / 5-6. szám
REFORMÁTUSOK LAPJA 5 GREETINGS TO THE Eleventh General Synod U.C.C. WASHINGTON, D.C, JULY 1-5, 1977 Our nation also elected a new president in the Bicentennial Year of 1976. We rejoice that we live in a country where government can change without bloodshed, but we also know that the bloodshed of Jesus Christ is necessary to make this nation what we ought to be. So we pray and pay, as the Scriptures instruct us, for a quiet and peaceable life, godly and respectful in every way. (I. Tim. 2:2) 7. Purposefully I left one of the key issues for the end. This is the personal side of this life and death struggle. I certainly hope that all of us are aware of this struggle, for this is our Christian style of life as cur forefathers phrased it in the Heidelberg Catechism with biblical insight (1, 32, 43, 45, 88-91). But when this struggle takes the form of hopeless frustration, unresolved tensions, constant tempting of the Lord in the service of the Synod, then we have to agree with Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, “What you are doing is not good. You and the people with you will wear you out of the thing is too heavy for you; you are not able to perform it alone!” (Ex. 18:17-18) At least, this is how I feel. Surely, the Committee of Seven dealt with this question on October 11, 1976 and will report to the Synod today. Yes, the retreats surfaced this problem again. I even took time to reprint an old example for our edification. But I am not sure that we really sense the significance of this problem. Hence my dilemma: I do not want to be a part of a funeral, but neither can I see how can I be a part of the sunrise. I only see the unmet needs and their fatal consequences, I only see the never-implemented resolutions and their deadly results, I only see what Hezekiah saw: “This day is a day of distress, of rebuke, and of disgrace; children have come to the birth, and there is no strength to bring them forth.” (Isa. 37:3) Therefore I plead with you today: take this issue with utmost seriousness not for my sake, but for the sake of our common life! Perhaps it is not late yet to give birth to a new Synodical life! My closing words must be sincere condolences to the bereaved ones (among them to the family of the Rt. Rev. Dr. Stephen M. Böszörményi, whose valuable services we recognized at our last meeting), thanks to the council members, prayer for all of you, and praise to Him who can turn all our sunsets into radiant sunrise. To Him be the glory forever! John Butosi, Bishop submitted by The Calvin Synod Conference to the Eleventh General Synod of the United Church of Christ in regard to human rights and cultural freedom violations against minorities in the Socialist Republic of Rumania as adopted at the Synod’s Annual Meeting on April 20, 1977. Whereas Jesus Christ calls the Church to the ministry of reconciliation as well as to make the implication of the Gospel effective in seeking the establishment of justice and peace in the world; and Whereas curtailment of fundamental human rights and cultural freedoms persists in the Socialist Republic of Rumania with special emphasis upon national majorities, particularly in the fields of education, labor policy, bilingualism and religious liberty despite signing international agreements that reaffirm the provision of Article 27 of the United Nations Covenant of Civil and Political Rights that “in those States in which ethnic, religious or linguistic minorities exist, persons belonging to such minorities shall not be denied the right in community with other members of their group, to enjoy their own culture, to profess and practice their own religion, or to use their own language”; and Whereas the Rumanian State, through its organ the Ministry of Cults, exercises a policy of total interference in ecclesiastical matters regardless of their administrative, social or theological nature, which harms especially the minority populations — among them 2.5 million Hungarians and 400,000 Saxons (Germans) in Transylvania, a land which was first in Europe to proclaim religious liberty — as the church is the only remaining institution which could fulfill the socio-cultural needs of minorities and permit them to nurture their ethnic heritage: Now, therefore, be it RESOLVED, that the General Synod of the United Church of Christ supports the legitimate strivings of minorities in the Socialist Republic of Rumania with respect to the freedom to exercise their fundamental human rights and cultural freedom; and be it further RESOLVED, that the General Synod urge the World Council of Churches and the World Alliance of Reformed Churches to continue their efforts in asserting the facts in regard to human rights and cultural freedom violations of minorities in Rumania (including the recent earthquake damages of the Reformed Church in Transylvania), and in cooperation with the churches and competent officials of the Government of the Socialist Republic of Rumania, to assure the implementation of their constitutional rights with respect to fundamental human rights and cultural freedom; and be it further RESOLVED, that if the Socialist Republic of Rumania continues to restrict the freedom of its minorities in the exercise of their fundamental human rights and cultural freedom, then the General Synod of the United Church of Christ urges the Government of the United States of America to terminate the 1975 United States-Rumanian Trade Agreement and the most-favored nation treatment of the Socialist Republic of Rumania. OVERTURE
