Calvin Synod Herald, 1977 (77. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)
1977-07-01 / 7-8. szám
REFORMÁTUSOK LAPJA 3 RUMANIA — U.C.C. llth GENERAL SYNOD ACTION THE ELEVENTH GENERAL SYNOD of the United Church of Christ, held on July 1-5, 1977 in Washington, D.C., unanimously accepted the following resolution on human rights with special emphasis on Rumania (excerpts): “Respect for human rights lies at the very heart of our Christian faith. All persons are created in the image of God and are endowed with the freedom to mirror in their relationship to God, neighbor, nature, and society the divine intention for a harmony of love, justice and peace . .. WHEREAS curtailment of fundamental human rights and cultural freedoms persists in the Socialist Republic of Romania with special emphasis upon national minorities, particularly in the fields of educaton, labor policy, bilingualism and religious liberty despite the signing of international agreements which 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 Saxon-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. THEREFORE, because of these overwhelming concerns for the human rights of all of God’s children, the Eleventh General Synod makes the following resolution for action: RESOLVED, that the llth 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 urges the World Council of Churches and the World Alliance of Reformed Churches to continue to assert 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 to assure the implementation of their constitutional rights with respect to fundamental human rights and cultural freedom, and BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the Eleventh General Synod of the United Church of Christ urges the government of the United States to follow its stated policy of monitoring the human rights practices of nations while reviewing the most favored nation status, and that if the Socialist Republic of Rumania continues to restrict the freedom of its minorities and does not respond to the specific actions stated above, then the llth General Synod of the United Church of Christ urges the government of the United States to terminate the 1975 United States-Rumanian Trade Agreement and the most-favored nation status of the Socialist Republic of Rumania. The Optional Protocol provides procedures for petition by individuals.
