Magyar Egyház, 1957 (36. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)
1957-05-01 / 5. szám
12 MAGYAR EGYHÁZ ROBERT MACKIE RETURNS FROM VISIT TO HUNGARY Dr. Robert Mackie, chairman of the Division of Inter-Church Aid and Service to Refugees of the World Council of Churches, returned to Geneva, Switzerland, on April 17 after a six-day visit to Hungary. He made the trip because of the special needs of the Hungarian churches in relation to inter-church aid. During his visit, Dr. Mackie had conversations with Bishop Lajos Ordass of the Lutheran Church but was not able to see Bishop Turoczy, who was out of Budapest. He also had contacts with Baptist and Methodist Church leaders, but he pointed out, “I naturally spent most of my time with the Reformed Church leaders since theirs is much the largest of the Protestant churches and has undergone the greatest changes in leadership.” Dr. Mackie was met and accompanied in Hungary by Dr. Ladislas Buza, chief curator and deputy lay president of the General Convent, Bishop Elemer Győry, vice-president, and Pastor Gyula Muraközy, director of the Office of the Convent. He was able to talk with the official representatives of all four districts of the church and also called on Mr. János Horváth, president of the State Office for Church Affairs. “One of the main internal problems,” Dr. Mackie said, “is that the Reformed Church has recently lost several of its well-known leaders. Bishop Albert Bereczky is slowly recovering from a very severe illness and Bishop Janos Peter has accepted an office with the State. Both men handed in their resignations some months ago. No meeting of the assemblies of their districts has yet been held to consider their resignations.” The former district of the Trans-Tibiscan Church which was dissolved in 1953 without consulting the congregations, has just been re-established, Dr. Mackie reported. No bishop has yet been elected, he said, and added that “the existence of these three unfilled posts has placed a heavy burden on the present leadership since neither Bishop Győry or Dr. Buza lives in Budapest.” Pastor Muraközy was for many years a minister of the Calvin Square Church in Budapest, along with Bishop Ravasz. He has been called from retirement to accept this post and is actively undertaking the many duties involved, Dr. Mackie said. During the visit in Hungary, plans were developed for increased material aid to the Hungarian pastors, parishes and church institutions. Quantities of food and soap have been dispatched to the churches and now this ministry will be increased, he said. Dr. Mackie reported that the majority of the pastors who were recently imprisoned in Hungary have been released and he raised with Mr. Horváth the cases of those still in prison. The Hungarian Church Press bulletin will soon resume publication for the first time since last autumn. Editors will be Bishop Ordass and Pastor Muraközy. On Palm Sunday Dr. Mackie preached to crowded congregations in Calvin Square Church, Budapest, and in the large country town church of Kecskemét. WCC To Aid Hungarian Refugees In Yugoslavia Five members of the staff of the World Council of Churches left Geneva for Yugoslavia March 8 to aid in the resettlement of the approximately 18,000 Hungarian refugees now in that country. According to Dr. Edgar H. S. Chandler, director of the WCC’s Service to Refugees, the Council has been asked by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees to send a resettlement and a welfare worker to Yugoslavia to help deal with a situation that the UN hopes can be cleared up in six months. George Wood, an American and former staff member of Church World Service, will do welfare work. The resettlement officer has not been named. Also making the trip to help set up the program will be Dr. Chandler, the Rev. Raymond E. Maxwell, secretary for Orthodox Churches and Countries, and the Rev. John D. Metzler, secretary for Material Aid and Surplus Commodities. The Lutheran World Federation will also be working in Yugoslavia. 5 Theological Students Among The Refugees Of the 18,000 refugees who have crossed the Hungarian border into Yugoslavia about 4,000 are Protestant, Dr. Chandler said, and the WCC will register them for immigration. Some will be resettled in Scandinavia, some in Western Europe and the rest overseas, he said. At the moment, the Immigration and Naturalization Service of the United States says that the U.S. program is limited to Hungarian refugees who fled to Austria. Admission of refugees from Yugoslavia into the U.S. would depend, the Immigration Service said, either on expansion of the present “parolee” program or on Congressional action on proposed revisions of the McCarran-Walter Immigration Act.) In the present situation in Yugoslavia, the refugees are closely confined, either in camps or in guest houses and hotels scattered all around the country, and are not able to have much if any contact with the local churches. It is known that five theological students from the Reformed Seminary in Budapest are among the refugees in Yugoslavia. E.P.S., Geneva “I was able to have a number of personal talks with local pastors,” he said, “and found that the events of last autumn have led to larger attendance at church services and new opportunities for evangelization. The crisis in church leadership is now being handled temporarily. This crisis will take time to resolve on a permanent basis. Meanwhile, the life of the congregations goes forward with its accustomed vigour and with a new sense of service to the whole country, which has been so sorely wounded by recent tragic events. The Hungarian Churches rely upon the understanding sympathy and continued intercessions of their fellow churchmen throughout the world.” Dr. Marcel Pradervand, general secretary of the World Presbyterian Alliance, who was to have accompanied Dr. Mackie, was prevented from going to Hungary by a last minute illness. He expects to make a visit in the near future. E.P.S.
