Magyar Egyház, 1988 (67. évfolyam, 2-4. szám)
1988-07-01 / 4. szám
MAGYAR EGYHÁZ 9. oldal that this action would affect minorities most severely, particularly those who are Hungarian-speaking. The World Alliance of Reformed Churches calls upon the Romanian government to respect the fundamental rights of all its citizen and, therefore to rescind its decision to implement this destructive programme. Yours sincerely, (signed) Dr. Allan A. Boesak Dr. Karel Blei President President of WARC WARC European Area Dr. Edmond Perret General Secretary + Here are, finally, texts of the two press releases issued by the IT or Id Alliance of Reformed Churches from April 15 and June 15 the first showing the sad attitude of the Transylvanian Reformed leaders, the second concerning the “fearful destruction of villages in Romania.” There is little to be added to the above except to repeat the call to prayer by Tinódi Lantos Sebestyén. (It should be mentioned that the Reformed Church of Hungary, the Hungarian Reformed Church in Romania / that is Transylvania / as well as our Hungarian Reformed Church in America are all member churches of the World Alliance.) PRESS RELEASE — URGENT World Alliance of Reformed Churches (WARC) Deeply Troubled Over Plight of Minorities in Romania (Geneva, April 11, 1988) ... A WARC delegation’s visit in mid-April to Romania to discuss the situation of minorities in that country was suddenly cancelled by the Alliance’s member church, the Reformed Church in Romania. An opening remained, however, for the visit to be rescheduled in the near future. The desirability of making such a visit emerged during the WARC’s Executive Committee meeting in October, 1987 when, after having deliberated over alarming news from various sides, including Romanian, on the ecclesiastical, social and political situation there and on reports of increasing restrictions imposed upon the Hungarian speaking minority, the Executive Committee issued the following: “The Executive Committee expresses deep concern about the situation of minorities in Romania. It believes that protection of minorities is an essential condition for the peace among people and fears, therefore, that the present policy of the Socialist Republic of Romania will lead, in the long run, to frustration and conflict... Therefore, the Executive Committee calls on the Socialist Republic of Romania to recognize and respect not only the individual rights of every citizen, but also the collective rights of ethnic minorities.” This concern was shared With authorities in the Reformed Church of Romania and made known to the authorities of the Socialist Republic of Romania. A proposal was made to send a WARC delegation to Romania to discuss the matter. In their reply of January 7, 1988, the two Bishops of the Reformed Church of Romania, Bishop Gyula Nagy and Bishop László Papp, rejected the WARC statement as “contrary to the truth.” In particular, they declared that “all citizens of their country, without any difference, benefit of a total liberty of manifestation in the field of social life.” Arrangements, however, were made for a four-person delegation, led by WARC president, Dr. Allan A. Boesak and .General Secretary, Dr. Edmond Perret, to visit Romania between April 9-12. At the request of the Reformed Church in Romania, the visit was cancelled on very short notice. Among issues that the delegation had planned to discuss were: 1) the increasing numbers of Hungarian-speaking peoples (among other ethnic groups) who wish to emigrate; 2) alleged attempts to disperse such groups throughout the country by the Romanian government; 3) the reduction of the number of schools for Hungarian-speaking pupils, and 4) the scarcity of students at the Theological Seminary at Cluj. Dr. Boesak and Dr. Perret said that they “firmly expected arrangements to be made for a visit later this year,” as suggested by Bishop Gyula Nagy, the presiding bishop of the Reformed Church in Romania. + PRESS RELEASE — URGENT World Alliance of Reformed Churches (WARC) Leaders Fearful of Destruction of Villages in Romania (Geneva, June 13, 1988) .. . Execution of a plan to demolish 7,000 villages out of 13,000 by the Romanian government and replace them with agro-industrial complexes is causing great concern to WARC leaders, Dr. Allan A. Boesak, President, Dr. Edmond Perret, General Secretary, and Dr. Karel Blei, President of the WARC European Area. The General Secretary sent an urgent appeal to President Nicolae Ceausescu, declaring that the plan “can only tear apart the fabric of society, violate human and civil rights and deprive thousands of their traditions, cultural heritage and language.. (Under Romanian law, citizens have no right to decide where they shall live or what work they will do. There is, therefore, no legal means to protest the destruction of their homes and communities.) A careful study of the situation in Romania since World War I indicates that the present government has intentionally eroded the rights of minorities in Romania. The destruction of these villages is seen as the latest and most drastic move in this direction. For instance, a law passed in 1974 forbids a minority from inviting any but members of the immediate family to stay overnight. This is regarded as a means to isolate minority groups in Romania from contact with the outside world. Within the country, representation of minorities in the National Assembly, the governing body of the country, has steadily decreased since 1977. The erosion carries over to the military as well as all minority officers had been
