Fraternity-Testvériség, 1976 (54. évfolyam, 1-4. szám)
1976-10-01 / 4. szám
DR. ZOLTÁN BEKY: Barfe Christmas The light of the star of Christmas, which brings peace, salvation and freedom to man, did not yet dissolve the dark night for the Hungarians and for our brethren in Transylvania facing eventual extinction. Millions live in darkness, prisons, and without exercising their fundamental human rights in our civilized, allegedly Christian world. The main theme of the Nairobi World Congress of the World Council of Churches representing 285 denominations and 450 million faithful in 120 countries has been: “Christ liberates and unites!” The French bishop opening the main meeting has started his remarks with these shattering truths: “The world has fallen into a dark night! It is as if the sun and the stars would have fallen from the heavens.” “Millions of men live in darkness, oppression and misery.” “Darkness fell on science, morals, theology, and even on the most intimate and purest human emotions: love and goodness.” “Nobody but the star of Bethlehem may dissolve this darkness. Only Jesus of Bethlehem can liberate us.” These words were giving us the right direction but the analyses and lectures following them were onerous and shocking. “Who is this Jesus who liberates and unites us?” — was the question. It was answered by theologians, liberals, rationalists and radicals. I was informed that there is a theology of revolution and liberation. Its leader talking for half an hour underlined that they do not want the Jesus who was born in the crib and brings peace. They want a Jesus who comes with a machine gun like Guevarra and exterminates the capitalists and colonialists. The proponent of the “Black Theology” argued that Jesus was a black man and Mary and Joseph were colored, too, and he has come to liberate the blacks. In the vestibule of the Congress a crib was set up containing the black statuettes of Mary and Joseph and a small black Jesus statue in the crib. One of the Russian theologians openly announced that in questions of morals and ethics: “the Communist Party is the only authority, and not Jesus and not God.” A black American Presbyterian minister denounced America at an open meeting that she suppresses and exploits the blacks. I asked him, does he know that almost 3 million Hungarians face ultimate genocide and live under harsh suppression of the Romanians? They do not have Cadillacs like the blacks in America, but have hardly enough to eat and if they protest they are taken to prisons and labor camps (21 of them are still in existence in Romania). And you, I said, are allowed to denounce your own country. Do you know that in Eastern Europe 120 million people live under Russian oppression and may not even protest it? Others attacked capitalism, especially American capitalism. Only a few dared to denounce communism, for the Russian delegation threatened a complete walkout. I had to mention these sad facts in order to show you the dark colors we must observe. The French bishop was indeed right: “Our World has fallen into a frightening darkness.” We have no one who can dissolve the darkness but Jesus of Bethlehem. There is no one who can liberate, unite and pacify us except Jesus of Bethlehem. We are now preparing ourselves for Christmas in this world of darkness, frustration, disintegration and faithlessness. Our solace is only that things were not different at the first Christmas either. Then, too, tyranny and oppression were in power. Herod sought Jesus to kill him and the murder of the little ones of Bethlehem continues even today. Today the victims are not only children and youth like during the 1956 Hungarian Revolution, but millions of people, men, women and children are sold into political slavery. In addition, in Transylvania, Upper Hungary, and in the Voivodina the tyrants seek to eliminate both Hungarian culture and the Hungarian people which go back a millennium. Today we are also faced with the murder of the souls of the children in these countries extirpating their faith in Christ by Communist education and schools. The only hope of our world remains Jesus of Nazareth, the Christ “who was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born from Virgin Mary.” We pray, appeal and scream in the name of this Jesus Christ for the future of our world, for Hungary, Transylvania, Upper Hungary, and for the salvation of the souls of our youth in the United States and Hungary alike. Come Jesus, our Savior, our Christ who liberates peoples and brings them peace.” We are awaiting you in the spirit of Advent! 2
