Hungarian Church Press, 1949 (1. évfolyam, 4-13. szám)
1949-05-08 / 4. szám
Io 4 >9 College and the spirit of the hoys and girsl I saw there was the spirit of Christ, if I know anything whatsoever about that spirit. They sang and danced and showed us their books end told us what they were studying and what they intended to do in life. There were no leaders among them.They run the whole affair them*selves... The look in their eyes was direct.There was an obYioue honesty,sincerity,something which I shall call devotion,or shall I say a purity, not a negative kind of purity,but something positive, something that has caught them up into a larger purpose and has transformed them into'mature human beings - something I think God wants them to be. Also I visited the tractor stations in the country and talked to the farmers in the cooperatives, which are being developed entirely on a voluntary basis. I was glad to see that they are growing rapidly and that the peasant of Hungary,beaten and trodden underfoot for so many centuries is standing up and becoming a man.This is of course social work and political work,but I say without fear of contradiction that this work has significance for religion,and that brings mo to another subject. Question: Yes, Mr.Leslie, I wa3 just going to ask you - perhaps this is what you had in mind,what about religion as it is organized in Churches? Answer: Well, the very fact that Bishop Bereczky has invited a representative of progressive Christianity to visit Hungary is proof in itself that at least a part of organized religion in Hungary is wide awake to the significance of what is happening here. I have met with many clergymen of the Protestant and of the Free Churches, and I find among them a remarkable eagerness to seise the opportunity which their new freedom has given them to proclaim the Gospel.lt will take some time before the entire Church will be able fully to meet the challenge of this new Society.For so many centuries since the first Emperor painted the cross on his flag the Church has lived too much in the bowels of Empire and not enough in the hearts of p iople.lt is therefore strange,and many clerics must rub their eyes in these latter day.p,suddenly to be presented with a condition of affairs in whi«h Caesar is no longer Caesar but is each one of the people,and in which God kingdom becomes God’s democracy. Besides Bishop Bereczky,who is undoubtedly the leader among the progressive clergy in Hungai-y,I have met also Bishop Vető of the LuiJxcran Church,Professor Kiss -who is not only the head of the Free Churches,but who is also one of the ranking anatomists of the world,the Baptist leader Rev.Somogyi *rwho has made a powerful statement in favour of the complete separation of State and Church,dr.Kádár,editor of the Hungarian Church Press, Rev.Fekete,editor of "The Way",the leading Reformed Church weekly, and many others. Question: Mr.Leslie,in view of some statements in the American and British press regarding the lack of freedom of religion in Hungary,have you anything to say? Answer: It is ridiculous. I have found complete freedom among all the-clergy and not only that,but I have wandered frooly through the city and talked to the people without any interference of any kind. May 8, 1949
