Magyar Egyház, 1959 (38. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)
1959-11-01 / 11. szám
MAGYAR EGYHÁZ 11 Orthodox Leader Reaffirms Unity Views (Oooperstown, New York,—EPS)—Archbishop Iakovos of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of North and South America has reaffirmed the willingness of the Orthodox Church to hold “ecumenical dialogues” with the Roman Catholic Church, if such dialogues have as their aim the eventual inclusion of Protestants. In a press interview at the House of Bishops of the Protestant Episcopal Church in Cooperstown, N.Y., Archbishop Iakovos emphasized the readiness of his church to engage in conversations with all churches including the Roman Catholics, “but never for bilateral unity.” “The union of all Christians is what God demands, not the formation of bilateral fronts of conventional unity. It is not only God that demands this from us, but all the people whom we say we serve but whom in reality we divide,” he said. Archbishop Iakovos told the House of Bishops that he had expected “rather more serious reaction than mere cancellation” of planned theological conversation between Orthodox and Roman Catholic theologians. The talks had been announced for Venice next year. The prelate, who is a president of the World Council of Churches, emphasized that any such talks should be undertaken only with the approval of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople. Such approval was not given for the Venice talks, he pointed out. The proposal for the Venice talks grew out of a strictly unofficial meeting between Roman Catholic priests and Orthodox participants attending a World Council of Churches’ meeting in Rhodes in August. The discussions were called off by the Sacred Congregation for the Oriental Church in Rome, according to an announcement on October 20. Archbishop Iakovos said that the Roman Catholic Church should be “more realistic” because the great international issues of our times “cannot be confronted by one church alone.” “We cannot combat political totalitarianism — or atheism in all its forms — without joining hands”, he said. He called for a more serious consideration of church unity. “The reunion of churches is not simply a matter of discussion. It is the duty and obligation of all of us”, he declared. “What is needed more than anything else today for ‘ecclesiastical reunion’ is: the unity of our hearts; the fortification of respect and trust in our relationships; a united front in the face of the disturbing domestic and international issues; and humbleness before Christ and total giving of ourselves to His Gospel.” The archbishop praised the role of the World Council of Churches in creating a new attitude on the part of Christians in the West towards Christians of the East.----------------0O0---------------Massachussetts Churches Fete “New Pilgrims” Refugees from nearly 20 countries — the new Pilgrims to America — were the guests of the Massachusetts Council of Churches at a Thanksgiving dinner November 21 in Plymouth. At this first gathering of its kind in the state, several hundred of the refugees and displaced persons brought to the Bay State by many of the council’s 12 member denominations were served barbecued venison and chicken, following a mammoth outdoor Thanksgiving worship service. State-Sponsored Abortions in Hungary The American monthly “East Europe” in its July issue published a very striking article about the Communist birth control propaganda in Hungary. It is well known that Marx and Engels very strongly opposed the theories of the English Malthus who saw the solution of the social problems by “birth control.” They rejected and constantly criticized this thesis, calling it a typical “bourgeois-capitalist” invention. Their followers, however, in Communist Russia soon forgot the Marxist ideas on this point. Abortion was permitted by a decree (Nov., 1920) in the USSR, provided that it was performed by an approved physician in a state hospital. Statistics were published only in very rare cases. One that became known in the West mentions one large medical institution in Moscow where in 1934 57,000 children were born and 154,000 abortions were performed. The effect on population increase as well as health became so serious that the law (June, 1936) abolished freedom of abortion. (Timacheff: “The Great Retreat”.) Then the Soviet State policy readopted the anti-Malthusian principle under Stalin. In 1955, Khrushchev called “cannibalistic” the birth control theories and asserted that “under Socialism” increasing birth-rate is necessary for the nation’s future and for economic development. And yet, abortion was once again legalized in Soviet hospitals in 1956. Almost at once all the satellite governments followed the example, Hungary outshining the others in the effort. Abortion was legalized by the Hungarian government in June, 1956. The number of legally performed abortions strikingly rose from 35,000 in 1955 to 120,000 in 1957 according to the Party newspaper “Népszabadság”, (May 22, 1958). In early 1957 abortions were estimated to have been 5,000 a month in Budapest alone or more than three times the live birth rate. The newspaper of the Communist Party stated quite bluntly that birth control propaganda is necessary to prevent economic and social problems, e.g. there will not be enough school-rooms by 1960; the housing shortage is becoming even more acute, etc. However serious the Hungarian situation is, it is still promising when compared with Communist China where some party members, who have already children, “have guaranteed that they will produce no more babies during the Second Five Year Plan.” Beside legal abortions, there is a great deal of propaganda to popularize contraceptives, according to authorities so far almost without any result. In spite of this propaganda campaign the number of abortions is steadily growing. Physicians are criticized for their unwillingness to participate in the state-sponsored “national” (but in fact nation-murdering) program "because of religious and chauvinistic considerations”. Newspaper articles in this connection do not attack the churches, a definite sign that the churches have no freedom and opportunity to expound their moral teaching, namely, that irresponsible abortion is immoral from the viewpoint of the nation, and even more from that of religion, where it is in the category of sin. — Spectator. — Did you know that in several areas of the world refugees outnumber the local population? In Jordan refugees number 56.3 per cent of the population. In the Gaza strip — some 30 miles long and five miles wide — no less than 230,000 refugees and 80,000 natives are completely marooned.
