Magyar Egyház, 1959 (38. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)
1959-02-01 / 2. szám
MAGYAR EGYHÁZ 9 HUNGARIAN CHURCH DELEGATES IN DENMARK- DANISH REFLECTIONS -The All-European Conference of the Protestant Churches from 21 countries took place in Nyborg, Denmark, January (i—9. Churches, otherwise not represented in the World Council of Churches, also could and did take part in the conference. “European Christianity in the present secularized world” was the main theme. The Hungarian Reformed Church was represented by Pastor Gyula Muraközy and Imre Kádár, the Lutheran Church by Bishops Zoltán Káldy and Lajos Vető. The editorial of the “Kristelight Dagblad” (Jan. 13), the distinguished Danish Christian daily deals with the Hungarian delegation and their activities, under the title: “The church that is entirely tied to the Hungarian government and is its tool.” The subtitle, “The explanation why the Hungarians behaved at the Church Conferece as they did” shows further insight of the Danish writer. The editorial notes a "hard tension behind the scenes” of the conference which was due to the Hungarians. Their behaviour clearly reflected the acute situation in Hungary. Examining the home background of the delegation the writer pointed to János Horváth, the President of the State Office for Church Affairs “whose plans had to be carried through by the delegates for he, and not the bishops, is the leader of the Church.” The task of the delegates was “to offer theological support to the state.” Thus the Hungarians arrived “with pounds of mimeographed papers.” These booklets contained 34 pages and were placed on the tables to be read by all, enumerating theological and ecclesiastical arguments in support of the policy of the Hungarian People’s Republic. They not only tried to justify that policy but argued that on theological lines one could not come to any other results than the ones arrived at by the Hungarian government. The papers considered the following political issues: atomic race in the West; West German arrangement of army chaplaincy; State and Church relations; religious liberty (which, according to the Hungarian report, is not a right that the Church can claim from the State); finally the report passed a strong criticism on Bishop Ordass. The Hungarian delegates could return home with some satisfaction. To the continuation committee, which follows up Nyborg and prepares for the next All-European Conference, Pastor Muraközy was elected as a member. Bishop Káldy — as it was expected — proposed that the Nyborg Message contain a paragraph demanding ban on all atomic weapons and urge atomic disarmament. Although it was not incorporated in the Message, it was added as an appendix to it. The Western delegates realized the need of the Hungarians whose participation even in the W.C.C. would have been endangered if they had returned from Nyborg without accomplishing anything acceptable to János Horváth. The Hungarian churches are under an “inhuman pressure” says the editorial. The grasp of the state tightens on the Reformed and Lutheran Churches. The church leaders, put into position by the state, are tools. The Western delegates knowing this understood the difficulty of the Hungarians as did the writer of the editorial. Even Bishop Vető cannot be thought of a Quisling, he writes, for he acts under pressure ever since he made his first concession. The pressure became much worse lately, for during the revolution he made a confession before his church and people, and a copy of this confession is in the desk of János Horváth. On the first page, this same paper has an article on Imre Kádár of whom the conference formed a different opinion. Kádár is “professor of ecumenics without any academic qualifications in theology”. Although you dare not say that he is a Communist — the article says — yet it is no exaggeration to say that he has fulfilled the demands of the Communist state like a “Stalinist”. There is no doubt that he was the leader of the Hungarian delegation at Nyborg — says finally the Danish writer of this profound analysis. Frede.--------o-------WORLD PRESBYTERIAN ALLIANCE Representatives of 11 American Reformed and Presbyterian Churches, with a combined membership in excess of six and a half million, met recently in Philadelphia to plan future operations of the North American Area of the World Presbyterian Alliance. The North American Area group, of which the Hungarian Reformed Church of America is a member, is headed by the Rev. Dr. James I. McCord, presidentelect of Princeton Theological Seminary, and the Rev. Dr. Ralph W. Lloyd, president of Maryville College. Bishop Zoltán Beky is member of the Administrative Committee and in this capacity he attended the Philadelphia meeting. The meeting discussed matters dealing with the 18th General Council meeting of the World Presbyterian Alliance to be held in Sao Paolo, Brazil, this summer, and participation of the American churches in a Reformed and Presbyterian Jubilee, 1959-1960. The Brazil meeting of the Council of the World Alliance will bring together delegates from Reformed and Presbyterian Churches around the world under the theme “The Servant Lord and His Servant People.” Seventy-three church bodies with a membership of more than 45 million will be represented at the 18th General Council. A number of major historical events in the life of world Reformed churches will be marked in the jubilee celebration. Among them are the 450th anniversary of the birth of John Calvin, father of Presbyterian theology; 400th anniversary of the Reformed Church in France and 400th anniversary of the Presbyterian Church in Scotland.--------o-------TRANSYLVANIA A new wave of arrests has taken place, directed particularly against pastors of the Hungarian Reformed Church in Transylvania which now belongs to Roumania. Some of the men arrested were accused of having sympathised with the Hungarian revolution, and received heavy sentences. Dr. Dezső László, pastor in Kolozsvár, one of the outstanding leaders in his Church, has been sentenced to 8 years’ hard labor. Protests against this sentence are being raised in many parts of the free world.
