Calvin Synod Herald, 2001 (102. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)
2001-07-01 / 7-8. szám
CALVIN SYNOD HERALD 5 Apartheid Not Dead For Hungarians Hungarian American Citizens Club - Woodbridge, New Jersey Apartheid is not dead! It lives on, not in South Africa, but in Europe, where the largest national minority group is the Hungarian. Although there are fifteen million of them, only ten million live in Hungary itself. Because of his native language, every third Hungarian inherits a disadvantaged life - socially, educationally, financially, politically and religiously. This is the case in Romania, Ukraine, Slovakia, Jugoslavia, and other neighboring nations. Most of you here today know the details far better than I could relate. They are condemned for being nationalists, because they try to maintain and enjoy their language, historical, cultural and faith traditions, derived from their ancestors for eleven hundred years on that soil. Yet they are made out to be aliens in their own ancient homeland. It was in Pozsony in the west, present day Slovakia’s capitol Bratislava, that Hungarian kings were crowned. In Kolozsvár far to the east, called Cluj by the Romanians, the Transylvanians stood up against Turks and Austrians alike to sustain the spirit of Hungary’s nationhood. To promote their genocide and snuff out anything Hungarian, the oppressors who have taken over the land call their very victims nationalists. But it is the regimes in the capitols who are the nationalists, cruelly intolerant of anything but the politically correct language and of anything Hungarian. They are the violators of human rights, while their victims are the true patriots, who seek equal protection under the law for the minority, a fundamental right in any genuine democracy. But just as the Communists oppressed the minorities, the new regimes have adopted the same philosophy, and with greater zeal. This should be a concern for all nations, because this kind of thinking breeds the divisiveness in the Balkans today. No one in his right mind says that the millions of immigrants’ descendants in America today should go back to Europe, Africa, Asia or elsewhere, and return the whole land to the native tribes who were here before. The clock cannot be turned back here, or in Europe. We must learn to live together in each nation, but without surrendering our varied identities. In nations where Hungarians dwell, and for minorities in Hungary, the peoples must learn to live together in harmony. Perhaps, without the tragic wars that always accompany border changes, the new efforts in cooperation of the European Union, NATO and the United Nations will bring about a breaking down of the borders and barriers. Maybe a new freedom developed this way .will enable all the ethnic populations to flourish in Central Europe. The hated Communists took away all the churches’ Hungarian schools, and the new governments won’t return them in most nations. Now the Roman Catholic and the Reformed bishops of Nagyvarad, Romania, have founded a brand new one together, Partium Hungarian Christian University, fostering their cherished heritage in today’s youth, tomorrow’s leaders. The university choir will be touring America and singing concerts in fourteen cities in the U.S. and Canada. They will be in New Brunswick on Monday, April 23rd. Bishops Tempfli and Tokes, highlighting its importance to their people, will accompany them. The schools are supported solely by the churches, without governmental assistance. The effort is a noble one, so let me encourage your generous donations and urge your presence, as your personal response to the appeal: Rise up Hungarians! Talpra Magyar! Note: The issue of returning church property remains unresolved in Romania, according to speakers at a meeting there in July. Bishop László Tokes reported that while Hungarian churches are waiting for the return of some 1,000 properties, 1,000 Orthodox churches have been built in Transylvania over ten years. A Roman Catholic coadjutor said they received agreement for the return of just five of their 580 confiscated properties, under government decree, but still are in possession of only one. Meanwhile, in Slovakia, the Hungarian Coalition Party has threatened to pull out of the ruling coalition, bringing down the government, following new laws increasing the present oppression of Hungarians. There are at least 90,000 Hungarian Reformed church members, reports Bishop Géza Erdélyi. Rev. Albert W. Kovács When Church & State Gang Up: Topic of Debrecen Professor Dr. Botond Gaal at Princeton The Rev. Dr. Botond Gaal returned to Princeton Seminary this summer to present a paper on “Ethnicity, Church and the European Union.” The topic considered the plight of minorities, their language and institutions, where a majority suppresses the free expression of another culture by a coalition of church and government. He addressed the International Reformed Theological Institute at its sessions, July 11-15, at the New Jersey school. His paper will be published along with the other presentations. Dr. Gaal is the Professor of Christian Dogmatics at the Reformed Seminary in Debrecen, Hungary. Several years ago, as a visiting scholar at Princeton, along with his family, he preached in many area churches in northeastern America. ooo
