Tárogató, 1943-1944 (6. évfolyam, 3-12. szám)
1943-11-01 / 5. szám
TÁROGATÓ 15 critical of the Government for not insisting that Canadians have a part in the African campaign, so on July 10th, when the announcement was made that Canadians had landed in Sicily the news was received with mingled feelings of pride and apprehension. There was national pride in learning that our boys had been chosen along with Montgomery’s famous Eighth Army and the American Seventh Army to form the spearhead of the attack on Italy. But there were apprehensions, too, for wars are not fought without losses, and all across Canada the joy of achievement was tempered with fear for what the morrow might have in store of sorrow or bereavement In these great days when life and death hang in the balance and momentous issues are at stake, the cost of war in blood and treasure and the price that must be paid for man’s sin and selfishness is brought home to us with a poignancy that is almost overwhelming. As the war has proceeded the mounting lists of thousands in China, Russia, Poland and other countries, who have paid the price with their lives, have led us to think in terms of figures and statistics forgetful to some degree, of the personal aspect of the losses, forgetful that every casualty means a honié shattered, a family thrown into consternation, with new adjustments to be made and newT responsibilities to be faced. The prospects of our own increasing losses has had a sobering effect and has made us more conscious of the suffering of others. In such times men and women turn to God and to His Church as the only source of spiritual strength and satisfaction. That there is such a turning to God, a wistful searching after comfort and direction, is evidenced in many ways. It is not without significance that the three best selling novels of the p>ast few years have been religious books—The Robe, The Song of Bernadette and The Keys of the Kingdom. While churches may not be overcrowded, yet men and women in their spiritual anguish, mental anxiety and perplexity are seeking in religion steadfastness, fortitude and patience which only the Gospel of Jesus Christ mediated through the Church can bring. “When the world turns grim for us,” says Rev. Walter M. Horton, of Oberlin Graduate School of Theology, in a recent address, “as it is likely to in these next few years, may God, our 'Kinsman loved but not enough whose feet have toiled along our pathway rough’, visit us in our time of testing, take us into the fellowship of His own creative and redemptive sufferings and turn the worst into the best for us by making us co-creators with Him of a new world, co-saviours ’with Him of our distressed humanity. This alone, I believe can ‘sanctify to us our deepest distress’, giving us power not only to endure but even to be glad in the midst of such sufferings as we may be called to pass through.” To be the mediator of this redeeming presence is the Divine function of the Church. This is the day of its unparalleled opportunity and responsibility. —“The United Church Observer”. CHURCHES IN CHAINS Recent News of the Churches in Enslaved Europe. The Church Survives The fact of outstanding importance is that, in spite of the violent hostility of the Nazi party, the Church in Germany and in the satellite and most of the occupied countries still survives as a corporate institution. There are areas, it is true—such as Poland and Yugo-Slavia—in which every effort has been made to suppress the Chruch altogether. The vast majority of the clergy have been put to death, sent to concentration camps or deported. The work of the Church in many districts is brought to a standstill; only scattered, tiny groups of Christians are able to meet in secret. But in Germany, Italy, Hungary, France, Belgium, Luxembourg, Holland, Denmark, and Norway the Church retains its corporate existence and congregations assemble regularly for public worship. In Hungary there appears to be little interference with freedom of the Churches. In Germany active evangelism is possible in some parts of the country. In both large and small towns, in both rural areas and among industrial workers, audiences, sometimes very large audiences, come together to listen to the preaching of the Gospel. The survival of the Churches as institutions keeps alive the possibility of action in many directions. The Churches are able to devise means of providing Christian instruction for adults and young people; to carry on, in however reduced a degree, the various ministries of the Church; to bring people together in groups for mutual encouragment and support; to create a Christian public opinion on moral
