Magyar News, 2001. szeptember-2002. augusztus (12. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)
2002-05-01 / 9. szám
Romania wants to join the European Union. To mask its unrelenting efforts to harass and persecute Hungarians, it is using all forms ofpropaganda to present a democratic and tolerant front to gain admission into the EU. The latest propaganda effort was a coordinated "Prayer Service" to be used by the various international Chapters of Church Women United for their Day of Prayer, March 1, 2002. Supposedly "written by the women of Romania", the theme was "Challenged to Reconcile" (which is like the wolf saying to the lamb, "Let's reconcile!") The headquarters of CWU provided a folder with background information for the leadership, as well as the text to be used for the Prayer Service by each Chapter. The Newtown Chapter of Church Women United asked Erika Papp Faber to speak for 10 minutes (!) on the life of Hungarians in Romania, within the context of this Prayer Service which was held at United Methodist Church. As it turned out no Romanian woman participated. The following is a copy of the speech Erika gave on March 1st, 2002: ‘What is the meaning of the text on one of the pages of the Prayer Service. "We confess that we did not respect the dignity of others, thus restricting their right to live." What were they referring to? They were talking about the Hungarian minority in Romania. Why are there Hungarians in Romania? At the end of World War I, the 1,000-year old historic Hungary was carved up by the Allies. The of Transylvania was given to Romania; this land makes up more than half of presentday Romania. Two and a half to three million Hungarians were cut off from the motherland and given to Romania. These Hungarians became the largest ethnic minority in Europe. Another quote from the Prayer Service is that like Abigail, "we too have to be courageous to name the injustice..." Well, I'm going to name the injustice: Hungarians are second-class citizens in their own native land, in a land that, in 1568 was the first anywhere in the world to have an edict of religious toleration. It also was the birthplace of Unitarianism. Today things are different, the slogan is: "To be Romanian, you have to be Orthodox." Orthodox churches are being built in areas where there are no Orthodox faithful, mostly in Hungarian areas. Hungarians are mostly Catholic or Protestant. These churches are being built with government approval and government help, but there is no government help for Catholic or Protestant churches to do the same. Some years ago, permission was granted to import 20,000 Hungarian-language Bibles into Romania. They were confiscated at the border and turned into toilet paper. This is not just conjecture, because you could read Hungarian scriptural words off the rolls of toilet paper. Hungarian religious services to this day are disturbed by loudspeakers in front of church which blare just at the time of the service. People who experienced this last fall told me. Naming another injustice: when Hungarian students finish college, get their education, they are sent out of their area to an area that has no Hungarian population. This way they are diluting the Hungarian population, and at the same time five million Romanians have been imported into the Hungarian areas of Transylvania. Naming another injustice: Hungarian villages - one called Bözödujfalu - were bulldozed because they were populated by All the city signs throughout the whole area were defaced, painting over the Hungarian name. On the left, somebody tried to wash it off with some success. Those on the bottom show what the signs look like. A church of a small Hungarian congregation in Transylvania One of the many handcarved beautiful Transylvanian gates Original ■ Hungarian Border This is what happened after WWI. # Budapest Present day HUNGARY Original hr ROMANIA] X Original f Hungarian Border 9{amnß tk Injustice in Romania Page 4
