Calvin Synod Herald, 2000 (101. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)
2000-05-01 / 5-6. szám
4 CALVIN SYNOD HERALD A Short History of the Reformed Church in Hungary (Continued from our previous issue) Taking into consideration the fact that the Governor of Hungary was a member of the Reformed Church, the Reformed Church tried to climb into the position of a “second state-church”, in order to enjoy some compensation for the many grievances and losses that had afflicted her in past centuries. Even if the Hungarian Reformed Church did not servilely support all the endeavors of Hungarian politics in the interwar period, she was not strong enough to avert the consequences of a revisionist policy, the enactment of antisemitism, and the inhuman destruction which followed the German occupation of the country. Although the Church’s representatives unequivocally rejected the Third Act against the Jews in 1941, they were unable to hinder its enactment. On the episcopal level, they tried to save what could be saved. In agreement with the Church government, the “Good Shepherd” organization was founded which, together with the Scottish Mission, performed effective rescue work amongst the persecuted. A good many people were saved by private and institutional actions. The Church after World War II In 1948, the state tried to regulate its relations with the churches by means of separate agreements. But Communist ideology, with its militant atheism and anti-clericalism, and its striving for hegemony, was a serious obstacle to the rectitude of these relations. Although strong emphasis was laid on the principle of “a free church in a free state”, the very dependence of the Hungarian People’s Republic on the Soviet Union could not ensure this freedom for the churches. The Communist Party - which eventually became the only party in one party system - practised “salami tactics” not only against its political opponents, but also in its relations with the churches. Let us take a few examples of the cynicism of this policy. Church schools were nationalized on the grounds that schools did not constitute an essential part of a church. Religious instruction was dispensed with, with the argument that facultative instruction was superior (because voluntary) to compulsory instruction. The next step was to purge the schools (first in the capital, and later in the countryside) from the harm of education in a twofold (that is, religious and irreligious) ideology - so religious instruction was to be liquidated entirely. The forty years of Communism, however, did not prove to be long enough to carry out this gradual erosion of religion. The external as well as the internal life of the Reformed Church was marked by every decision of the Communist Party, that became, with the help of the Soviet Union, the only party in the state during the political struggles after World War II. Until the Revolution of 1956, the Church and her members, just as all citizens of the country who had not adopted the ‘victorious’ ideology of Communism, were overtly exposed to everyday atrocities. As the Communist State, according to its own laws, could and did interfere in the lives of the churches, those churchmen who held posts where they had to communicate with the state met with great temptations or trials. Many of them had even been placed in their positions by the Party. This circumstance led to a certain alienation between the leaders and the constituency of the churches. Our Church, at first almost condemned to death, was later compelled to live as a fellow-traveller, in the person of her leaders, as part and parcel of the reigning political system. The Revolution of 1956 The Revolution of 1956 tried to put an end to this era. Although its protagonists were not the churches, for a short period of time they also could hope for freedom. After the Revolution there was religious instruction in schools again for several months. But this heroic attempt, by which the Church had also tried to shake off the fetters forced on her by a power inimical to her, failed. Things, however, could not go on as before. However, for a short period of time - about a year - there was retaliation, and churchmen who had participated in the Revolution were also severely punished. Our Church had also had her martyrs; some ministers and theological students paid for their participation in the Revolution with their lives. Commemoration of them was prohibited, and their names could only be mentioned in exclusive circles. Today, a memorial tablet on the wall of the Ráday College remembers them. Later on the influence (and the effect) of political consolidation could also be felt in the lives of the churches. Communist ideology, previously unyielding and militant, began to soften somewhat. There was a tacit compromise between the government and society, and the latter gained some of the advantages of a consumer society under “gulyás Communism”. In exchange, however, it had to give up any open criticism of the system and its ideology. In this milieu the outward face of the Church changed in many respects. The numerical proportion of the members of the Church Districts, as it had evolved over the course of history, shifted. While formerly the number of Church members increased if we proceeded eastwards, in our time the great masses of the Reformed population in the eastern half of the country have diminished. The number of congregations has considerably decreased as compared with the evergrowing populations of the towns. This process was brought about by certain factors listed in a penitent declaration of the Synod Council in 1946: failure in the faithful fulfillment of the prophetic mission of the Church, neglect in safeguarding the purity of preaching the Word, becoming lukewarm in love, compromising with a worldly power, and so on. This repentance came in handy for the state. The repeated mention of the forfeiting of her prophetic mission deprived the Church of her moral right to raise her voice on behalf of those persecuted and cast out by the regime. (Conclusion in our next issue)
