Magyar Egyház, 1990 (69. évfolyam, 3-6. szám)
1990-05-01 / 3. szám
8. oldal MAGYAR EGYHÁZ LETTER TO NCCC National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA — May 16-18, 1990 meeting in Pittsburgh, PA. From your left to right: James Hamilton, General Secretary; The Very Rev. Leonid Kishkovsky, President; Louis Illés, representing the Hungarian Reformed Church in America. Duquesne, PA, May 16th, 1990 To The Very Rev. Leonid Kishkovsky, President and to Mr. James A. Hamilton, General Secretary National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA at the May 15th, 1990 General Board Meeting. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Dear Mr. President and Mr. General Secretary; Brotherly greetings to You and to all members of the General Board Meeting! With due respect I would like to submit the following five (5) observations as general information and/or subject (s) to be included in future discussions and actions by this General Board Meeting. I am writing this letter and reporting in agreement with Bishop dr. Harsanyi. I am reporting with humble joy that 1990 is the 400th anniversary of the publication of the Karolyi Bible, the first complete translation of the Bible into the Hungarian language. Like Luther’s Bible, this was the undertaking of one person: Gáspár Karolyi. The publication marked the creation of a standard literary Hungarian language. Printing began in 1589, the finished bibles were presented on July 20th, 1590. It’s interesting to know that printing paper was purchased in Poland. Reading through the agenda we noticed the thorough covering of inhuman affairs in different parts of the world. Sadly, the present history of inhuman treatment of minorities, primarily Hungarians in Transylvania was mentioned only indirectly as a report on President Kishkovsky’s role in “Old Faiths, New Freedoms.” Even here it should be noted that the post-WWII term “Eastern Europe” for some of the countries that forcibly became Soviet Satellites is being changed back to Middle Europe, temporarily ‘’Eastern-Middle Europe.” Hungary is one of these countries. We would like to see equal coverage of atrocities by the Rumanian neo-fascist forces in Transylvania against (Hungarian) minorities. Bishop László Tokes reported on the situation extensively, when he visited the United States, the media is keeping the news up-to-date (see Readers Digest, June ’90 issue). We are very happy with the present coverage by NCC media, but we would like to extend it to other areas of primary concern, as well. We would like to go on record, that in all fairness we cannot identify ourselves with the proposed resolution on document DCS 3. It would be hard to accept the responsibility for atrocities committed in the 16th century, since our ethnic group’s immigration began in the 19th century. Our attiude is similar to that of America about the Trianon Treaty (June 4, 1920 — will be seventy years this year!). America did not sign the treaty, even though she was the backbone of the Allied Powers, which drafted this treaty that robbed Hungary of more than 2/3 of its territory, and many millions of ethnic Hungarians giving them to the newly created (after WWI & WWII) “Allied-Satellite” nations of Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia, also to Rumania. Even the primary cause of WWI, Austria, received a bonus pound of flesh of Hungary’s body. We are not trying to instigate political unrest, only a moral reckoning! Creating the “Allied-Satellite” nations was the result in both cases the personal friendship between American presidents in office and politicians of beneficiary states. We would like to add here a suggestion to remember the Massacre at Katyn perpetrated by Soviet forces, kept in secret and blamed on the enemy by England and the United States. (Again, see Readers Digest, May 1990 issue.) Hoping that these observations will serve the betterment and extension of our (the NCC) compassionate attention and actions and that they will be considered at he appropriate time and place, we remain Your fellow laborers in Christ’s Service, with fraternal greetings (Rev.) Louis Illés Hungarian Reformed Church in America ANNA SOUTO BEGINS STUDIES FOR MINISTRY Dedication, perseverance, conscientiousness and sometimes even sacrifice are requisites in almost every field of endeavor and particularly in the ministry. Anna Souto, Christian Education Director of the Allen Park Church has these attributes, and they should prove valuable to her as she studies for a Master of Divinity degree. She recently began ministerial studies at Ashland Theological Seminary in Ashland, Ohio. In addition to commuting once weekly to Ashland, she is also taking classes at the school’s Detroit Center on the Wayne State University campus. While working for her degree, Anna is continuing her duties with the Allen Park church, overseeing Sunday School classes as well as Junior and Senior Christian Youth Fellowship programs. Anna holds a bachelor of arts degree in English literature from Wayne State University. She is a delegate of the Hungarian Reformed Church in America to the US National Committee of “Churches’ Ecumenical Decade in Solidarity With Women.” So far she participated in two important national level meetings, one in Los Angeles, CA (September, 1989) and Nashville, Tenn. (March, 1990) which have been greatly beneficial to her new line of studies. Anna is married and she and husband Fernando have two daughters, Valerie, 10 and Vanessa, 9.
