Calvin Synod Herald, 1988 (88. évfolyam, 1-5. szám)
1988 / 2-5. szám
CALVIN SYNOD HERALD NEWS FROM HUNGARY ROMANIAN HUNGARIANS It was on Christmas Day, 1986, that the religious community of Hungary publicly expessed its deep concern over what was then an already developing situation in Transylvania, the part of Romania which had been the ancesteral home of Hungarians for well over a thousand years. Leaders of the Reformed, Lutheran, Baptist, Methodist, Orthodox and Unitarian Churches, as well as the Council of Free Churches, spoke out over what was increasingly becoming an intolerable situation for all ethnic and religious minorities in Romania at the hands of an increasingly chauvenistic regieim. Employing a systematic cultural pogrom, religious and ethnic vestiges of all non- Romanian history were being eradicated. This past year the Romanian government has undertaken to make certain that when its plans are completed, there will be no evidence of any foreign cultural or ethnic group ever having lived in that part of the world, a logical absurdity in itself. Rewriting history, changing names, destroying the physical evidence contained in centuries of church records, the Romanian government continues to press on with its program of cultural genocide. To truly eliminate any trace of other cultural history in present-day Romania, the government has undertaken to destroy some 7,000 towns and villages in rural areas. Presented as a grandiose plan to "modernize” and "urbanize” the country in an effort to obtain maximum efficiency in commerce, agriculture, and extension of public services to its people, a plan doomed from its inception since the history of this century shows that forced "collectivization” and government ownership of commerce or industry is the least efficient form of management, The fact is that these settlements are inhabited almost exclusively by various national minorities; Hungarians, Germans, Serbians, Bulgarians, Jews and others. Churches and chapels, containing the records of generations of ancestors of present-day residents will be destroyed; cemeteries will be bulldozed, so NO physical evidence remains of any history other than ethnic Romanian. The assimilation of these minorities is being accomplished by tearing persons away from their homes, from their religious, linguistic, and cultural communities, and resettling them in other parts of the country where they will have no opportunity to practice either their language, their religion, or participate in their own cultural heritage. In the process of this "cultural genocide”, European and western civilization will have lost a thousand years of tradition and history. And the destruction in human terms can never be measured. Since that time the Churches of Hungary have spoken out strongly against what is happening in neighboring Romania, a fellow "socialist” country. Taking bold steps against the prohibition of one socialist country criticizing another, first the churches, then virtually the whole nation of Hungary has protested the Stalinistic method which the Romanian government is employing with its minorities, a philosophy which, in retrospect, has been rebuked by all the other countries in the "socialist block”. On Sunday, July 3, all churches in Hungary observed a day of prayer for those Hungarians who have fled from Romania. Since then, a massive relief effort has been undertaken in Hungary, led by the churches, especially the Reformed Church, to aid those, both Hungarian and non-Hungarian in origin, who have sought refuge in Hungary. <hcp) REFORMÁTUSOK LAPJA REFORMATION WORSHIP TELEVISED On Sunday, October 30, the Reformation Celebration worship service, held at the Evangelical-Lutheran Church of Budavár in Budapest, was carried "live” on Hungarian Television. Bishop Dr. Gyula Nagy, head of the Lutheran Church in Hungary, preached the sermon. The was the first time that a Lutheran Church worship service was carried on television; the first televised worship service was a Roman Catholic Christmas Eve service last year, followed by the first Reformed worship service on Easter morning this year, (hcp) PAROCHIAL SCHOOLS IN HUNGARY Discussions continue in Hungary on the establishment and re-establishment of church-supported secondary schools, which has become a possibility this past year. The realities of finance are the main point of discussion at this time. Bishop Dr. Károly Tóth, leader of the Reformed Church, posed the question to the congregations as to whether they really felt additional Reformed secondary schools are needed, and if so, what financial committment the local parishes can make to their support. "Of our 1,618 parishes - including those in the ‘dispersion’ areas - there are about 500 the annual budget of which reckons with an income over 300,000 Forint ($6,000.00 US). If these approximatly 500 congregations are willing and able to offer each year the average of 50,000 Forint ($1,000.00) for the next 10 years, then we have a realistically estimated financial basis for the establishing and upkeep of a second middle school.” Should such a middle school be established, financial support would be invited from both the government of Hungary and Hungarian congregations in the West, (hcp)
