Erős Vár, 1948 (18. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)
1948-10-01 / 10-11. szám
4 ERŐS VÁR Bishop Lajos Ordass and br. A. Radvánszky ai the dedication of the first barrack-church in Hungary, the Lutheran Church of Vecsés, a gift of the Lutheran World Action. fore, fiercely and obstinately attacking the Communistic regime in Hungary internally. On account of their undying aggressivessness all the Christian Churches in Hungary are suffering gravely for creating in the minds of the Communist an ire against Chritianity at large. THE PRESENT SITUATION IN HUNGARY In a very recent move the Hungarian Government abolished the “denominational schools” and took over all the parochial grammar schools and colleges. At first a concordatum was offered by the State. The Reformed Church accepted it and made a separate agreement with the State. The Lutherans and the Roman Catholics felt that “voluntarily” they can never give up the right to have their own schools. Nevertheless, by governmental action all the schools were taken over at the beginning of the 1948 school year. Bishop Crdass took the firmest stand in this issue; therefore, the next necessary move on the part of the government was to remove the bishop. A very unfair attack was launched against him. Through all the Hungarian newspapers he was accused of haying kept money from the Lutheran World Federation’s aid to the Hungarian Lutheran Church. He was arrested, together with Dr. Albert Radvanszky, the lay president of the Lutheran Church of Hungary, and the Rev. Sándor Varga, his secretary. They were placed before the “People’s Court”, where the defendants learned of the charges placed against them only at the time of the trial. Fortunately, however, the defendants were able to produce all the documents necessary to prove that every penny of the Lutheran World Federation’s aid was accounted for. When all charges against them had failed, the People’s Court charged that the “Lutherans of America promised a continuation of help from the Lutheran World Action Funds in the years to come.” And, therefore, the court said: “It is an asset for the Hungarian Lutheran Church which they can demand from the American Lutherans” and this promise “was not reported in written form to the Hungarian National Bank by the bishop” and “for hiding such an asset abroad, Bishop Ordass committed a CRIME against the Hungarian State and people." Thus the bishop was found "guilty". Under these false accusations the bishop was sentenced to two years in prison; compelled to pay 3,000 “forint” court costs, and was given a five-year suspension of civil liberties. The secretary was sentenced to three years in prison because of this same charge, and the aged Dr. Albert Radvanszky suffered a heart attack during the trial and his case was postponed. It is to be noted that this grand old lay-leader of the Church was willing to take upon himself all the charges if the others would be set free. He maintained that as the copresident of the Lutheran Church, it was his duty to administer the financial end of the Church’s work and that he alone was responsible for it. This noble gesture on the part of Dr. Radvanszky is an excellent example of how the faith of the fathers is working also in the hearts of the laymen. The trial ended and its mockery seeemingly accomplished its end — the elimination of the resistance of Bishop Ordass and the Hungarian Lutheran Church. Since the Lutheran Church is one of the smaller denominations in Hungary, the government made an attempt to find out the strength and reaction of the Christian Hungarians. Although the president of the Lutheran World Federation, in the name of more than sixty million Lutherans, sent a letter of protest against the verdict to the Hungarian Government, the feeling in Hungary was that “only one minister wrote in behalf of Bishop Ordass, therefore, the fate of the bishop can not be very much in the heart of the Christian world.” The prayers of the Church are offered daily for the Lutheran Church of Hungary and Bishop Ordass. ▼▼▼▼▼▼▼▼▼▼▼TVVTTVTTVVTTVTVTVVVVVTVTTVVTT EROS VÁR Official Religious Monthly of the Hungarian Lutheran Churhes of America Az amerikai magyar ág. Iiitv. ev. egyházak hivatalos lapja. Editor — Főszerkesztő: Rév. Gábor Brachna, 3243 W. 98th St., Cleveland 2, O. Kiadóhivatali vezető: Rev. Paul Markovits, 161 Hazelwood Ave., Pittsburgh 7, Pa. Munkatársak: Az amerikai magyar evangélikus Iclkészi kar. Minden cikk, közlemény, valamint minden előfizetés, reklamáció és megrendelés a kiadóhoz küldendő. Subscription Price: $1.50. — Előfizetés: $1.50 egy évre.
