Fraternity-Testvériség, 2007 (85. évfolyam, 1-3. szám)
2007-04-01 / 2. szám
June 13—Bishop László Tőkés Bishop László Tőkés was invited to Washington to give the Invocation at the Gala Award Dinner of the dedication of the Victims of Communism Memorial. The following evening Director László Hamos had the honor of presenting Bishop Tőkés to members of the HRFA, the Hungarian Human Rights Foundation and the Hungarian— American community of Washington, DC. László Tőkés is the bishop of the Romanian Reformed Church District of Királyhágómellék, Transylvania, Romania, and the founding member and president of the Hungarian National Democratic Union of Transylvania. In December of 1989 in Temesvár the attempt by the Romanian security police to evict Rev. László Tokes from his post as an assistant pastor of the Hungarian Reformed church, lead to a mass demonstration against the Ceausescu regime. The demonstration helped trigger the Romanian Revolution that overthrew the Ceausescu regime. Bishop Tőkés presented his views of the post communism transition, the problems the Hungarians living in Romania are facing as a minority group and how the real- estate in Romania is changing hands from the Hungarians to the Romanians. Among the participants to Bishop Tokes’ presentation were President Jules Balogh, CFO Les Megyeri and Director László Hamos. June 14—Bishop Árpád Szabó HRFA and the American Hungarian Federation sponsored a presentation by Rev. Dr. Árpád Szabó entitled “In Europe, but...” Dr. Árpád Szabó is the first constitutionally elected bishop of the Unitarian Church of Romania (Transylvania). Bishop Szabó talked about problems Hungarian community living in Romania is facing. That even though Romania is a member of the European Union (EU) it has not made the positive changes they had hoped for. Prior to becoming members, the EU had asked the Romanian government to respect human rights and to return confiscated properties, but now the EU has adopted the policy of not interfering in the internal affairs. Bishop Szabó is also concerned (as is Bishop Tőkés) that non-Hungarians are purchasing lands in Transylvania, weakening the Hungarian population, and jeopardizing the Transylvanian culture. Furthermore, the Hungarian government is cutting back on the assistance to the Hungarians in Romania. Group photo after Bishop Szabó’s talk. 12 Fraternity - Testvériség / Summer 2007
