Magyar Hírek, 1984 (37. évfolyam, 2-26. szám)
1984-09-15 / 18-19. szám
CHRONICLE Congress of the Lutheran World Federation The Lutheran World Federation, which represents 97 member organizations all over the world, held its congress in Budapest between 22nd July and 5th August. Zoltán Káldy, Presiding Bishop of the Lutheran Church of Hungary, in a statement to the press before the conference, emphasized that he forwarded the invitation of the Hungarian Church as a member of the Executive Committee of the World Federation at the 1980 Congress in Augsburg, and this was the basis of the decision that the next congress would be held in Budapest this year: for the first time in a socialist country. Churches belonging to the Federation have a total of 55 million members on five continents. Most Lutherans live in Europe, but several Churches with millions of members belong to the organization also in America, Asia and Africa. The total number of Lutherans is almost 77 million. The World Congress of the Lut heran World Federation began with divine service held in the Budapest Sports Hall. More than ten thousand attended the Communion service, including official guests, Church dignitaries from all parts of the world, representatives of Hungarian Churches and denominations as well as great members of Lutherans. The Bishop-President Zoltán Káldy preached at the service — conducted in three languages, English, German and Hungarian — and was liturgically assisted by Hungarian and foreign ministers. After divine service, the World Congress continued in plenary sessions. Josiah Kibira, a Tanzanian bishop, gave an account of the operation of the organization. He underlined that the principal theme of the world congress: With hope in Christ for the world. had en even more profound significance than before. The World Federation worked successfully to get more and more East European Churches to join in its work, and thanks to its labour's, inter-church relations have broadened. Among the unsolved problems, the Tanzanian bishop mentioned those of racial discrimination, thus the suppression of human rights in South Africa. Rezső Trautmann, Deputy-Chairman of the Presidential Council welcomed participants on behalf of the Hungarian People’s Republic. He emphasized that the Hungarian nation preserved and cherished its thousand years old historical heritage, in which the cultural and moral values of the Churches, among them the Lutheran, occupy distinguished positions. Cardinal László Lékai, Archbishop of Esztergom, welcomed participants on behalf of the Roman Catholic Church. He recalled that various Christian Churches have coexisted in Hungary for many centuries, and have helped each other in spite of differences in their views, whenever the defence of the country, of liberty, or the tasks of economic and cultural reconstruction demanded. Tibor Bartha, a Calvinist bishop, President of the Ecumenical Council of Hungarian Churches, forwarding the greetings of Protestant and Orthodox Churches, pointed out that the Hungarian Churches practised ecumenical attitudes, respecting differences but striving for co-operation. The good results of the Marxist-Christian dialogue achieved in Hungary greatly contribute to the future perspectives of humanity. This also indicates that peaceful, constructive coexistence and co-operation is possible between people of differing world outlook, and that there is a way in which societies of different arrangements may live in peace side by side. Carl Mau, the General-Secretary of the World Federation emphasized, among other things, that the deteriorated international situation makes it imperative for the Church to make even greater efforts than before to maintain the peace of the world. Representatives of the Lutheran World Federation spent two weeks in Hungary during the Congress. They were also given the opportunity in the meantime to become acquainted with the everyday life of the Lutheran Church in Hungary. Delegates from five continents were invited to visit parishes in every part of the country: they visited more than one hundred of them, and preached to the faithful. At the final session, Bishop Zoltán Káldy was elected current Chairman of the Lutheran World Federation. The Congress ended with a divine service during which a message to the Lutherans of the world was read. “Our meeting in Hungary was the first of our Federation in an East European socialist country. The fact itself and the hospitality with which we were met showed us that we can have confidence in each other and that we can build a bridge across the political and ideological frontiers which divide the nations.” The message goes on to state that tension between North and South, between the sexes and races, often casts a shadow on unity and hope in the church and in the world. “The presence of yovmg people was a sign full of hope for us, and convinced us that they must take a full part in the life of the Church. We wish to practice our Christian love by joining together with men of good sense who desire the welfare of the whole world and labour to strengthen the hope of peace”, the message concludes. Employment of school leavers Some 114.000 young people finished their studies in Hungary this year. They can chose amongst 146.000 jobs. These numbers show that a job awaits each of these young people. Yet the situation is not quite as simple as that, one learns from a recently publication of the State Wages and Labour Office. The favourable overall impression conceals some serious problems. 64 per cent of non-manual vacancies will very likely be filled by graduates, even though a secondary education would suffice for many. This trend relates to the wage rates, which do not sufficiently differentiate in favour of graduates. Finding employment is slightly more difficult for women than for men. There are 97 vacant positions per 100 women seeking work, while the number of vacancies exceeds that of the job seekers in the case of men. Analysing the situation by types of occupation, it is clear that young skilled workers are in the best position: 64.000 vacant positions are offered to 46.000 skilled workers starting to work. Employment prospects are also bright for graduates: 25,000 vacant positions are available for the 10,000 graduates. As against this, secondary school leavers are in a rather unfavourable situation. The demand for jobs exceeds the supply, and the hourly wages are hardly higher than those paid to young people who finished only the eight classes of the general school. The reason is evidently that the general secondary school really provides a basis to students for further studies at the universities and not special training. On the other hand, those who had attended specialized secondary schools and received training in some skill, can easily find employment. A new system for the training of technicians A new system started in the current school year for training technicians — in evening and correspondence courses, for the time being—for those who finished specialized secondary schools and wish to further improve their skills. Builders’ courses will be held at Pécs, Miskolc, Szeged, Székesfehérvár, Győr, Debrecen, Nyíregyháza and Zalaegerszeg, a course in water management at Baja, a forestry course at Sopron, others for crop growing and protection at Tata and Karcag, one for each foundry work at Győr and Budapest, one for building engineering at Zalaegerszeg, while others in bridge-building, road-building, railway-building, surveying and cartography will be held in Budapest. Training courses last four years. In order to facilitate the choice of careers, students will learn the basic subjects suitable for the group of their interest in the first two years, and embark on specialized courses for technicians thereafter. The new system will be introduced to dayschools as well in the 1986 school year. The Óbuda of Komán days is coming to life In the North-Western part of Budapest, at Óbuda, where archeological excavations have been proceeding for a considerable time connected with the reconstruction of the Árpád bridge, the remains of the gatehouse of the camp of legionaries of the Roman city of Aquincum, were discovered recently. The Roman military camp of six thousand defended the Northern boundary of the Empire in the first centuries A.D. The fortified town had four gates. Two of the gatehouses were excavated earlier, now the East gate was freed of the layers of earth of two millenia. The current excavations explored numerous remains of the ancient Roman settlement, which are now displayed in their original place. The foundations of the two gatehouses are exhibited in a “mini museum” in the basement of a new department-store, while the remains of the old baths and other ruins and walls were surrounded by lawns and shrubs overpasses leading to the bridge. The centenary of Zsigmond Kisfaludi Strobl Few sculptors left so many marks on the city-scape of Budapest as Zsigmond Kisfaludi Stróbl. The Liberation Memorial on Gellert Hill as well as Lajos Kossuth’s statue in front of Parliament House, the figure of Ferenc Rákóczi and Lajos Kossuth in the gallery of statues surrounding Heroes’ Square, as well as the Archer, with his muscles tight, at the entrance of the skating rink in the City Park are all his own work. He earned international acclaim with his portrait sculptures in the first phase of his career. During his one-year stay in Britain he acquired such popularity with his busts, of George Bernard Shaw, Somerset Maugham, and the young Princess Elizabeth, that G.B. Shaw himself wrote an introduction to an exhibition held there, remarking with his usual wit: Though I may not be as good looking as Mr Kisfaludi Stróbl made me, I shall keep on looking at his work until I grow to be like it. Later he immortalized the greats of Hungarian artistic life: Zoltán Kodály, Aladár Edvi Illés, Erzsi Paulay and Gizi Bajor. The scope of his work ranges from intimate small sculptures to monumental statues. It is fitting to remember their creator on the centenary of his birth. 61
