Egyháztörténeti Szemle 14. (2013)
2013 / 4. szám - SUMMARIES IN ENGLISH - Szabó Éva: Difficulties Facing Spiritual (Pastoral) Care Provided by The Reformed Church in the Military during World War I
Summaries in English 97 college in 1829, he opted for the latter. Between 1829 and 1831, he studied at the University of Gottingen. Having returned from there, he took up his teaching position. In addition to his teaching activities, he was elected vice-bishop of the Tiszáninnen Reformed Church District. He tried to do everything for the College not only as an excellent professor, but also by taking a significant part in solving the difficult situation that developed due to the educational ministerial decree called Entwurf, and later by his struggle in the patent battle threatening the Protestant churches. In i860, after the death of Bishop Pál Apostol, he was elected bishop of Tiszáninnen Reformed Church District. He held this position until his death in May 1866. Difficulties Facing Spiritual (Pastoral) Care Provided by the Reformed Church in the Military during World War I Szabó, Éva I first addressed the issue of military chaplaincy in the Reformed Church during World War I in my degree thesis at Károli Gáspár University of the Reformed Church in Hungary. I have continued to investigate into the topic, carrying out the relevant research. I am planning to present the results and findings of my research in a paper which, though shorter, has more detailed information to offer. In compiling my paper, I relied on two professional journals: Protestáns Egyházi és Iskolai Lap („Protestant Ecclesiastical and School Journal”), a rich source of information and Dunántúli Protestáns Lap („Transdanubian Protestant Journal”), convention records, correspondence and an excerpt from a diary. As regards technical literature, I considered the studies by József A. Varga, who conducted an in-depth analysis of military chaplaincy in several denominations, as authoritative literature. My paper strives to present the difficulties that faced military chaplains tending to their duties and the challenges that the military chaplains of the Reformed Church offering spiritual care had to rise to during World War I. Besides listing the difficulties (a shortage of chaplains, red tape (bureaucracy) and conversion-related attempts by the Roman Catholic Church, etc.), the paper also offers an insight into the means, measures and efficiency with which the Reformed Church and its military chaplains strove to resolve those difficulties. In addition to a detailed discussion of the difficulties, the paper also expounds on the successes of the spiritual care provided by the Reformed Church and the awards given to its military chaplains. Personal accounts published in newspaper articles and a few remarkable stories add to the appeal of the topic addressed by the paper.
