Baráth Béla Levente: „Földbegyökerezés és égbe fogózás...” A Tiszántúli Református Egyházkerület története Baltazár Dezső püspöki tevékenységének tükrében (1911-1920) - Nemzet, egyház, művelődés 10. (Sárospatak, 2014)

Summary

The prominent role that Bishop Baltazár played during World War I is also shown and analysed in the dissertation. With the national interests in mind, he obviously would have liked Hungary to be among the winners after the war. As a church leader, his aim was to alleviate the suffering afflicted by the war in the home front. In addition he provided spiritual comfort, pastoral care for the soldiers which was also important. Partly this is the reason why after the war a Reformed military chaplaincy was also set up as a separate unit, beside the Catholic one.

During the dissolution of the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy and .historical’ Hungary where the political sitation saw a rapid change of events and, then, the occupation of a large part of Hungary by Romanian troops, the bishop was exposed to constant threats and his life was in danger several times. In his view a broad social consensus preventing the downfall could have been possible only within the framework of a constitutional monarchy, providing a large’ scale of democratic rights. His actions, during the events counterproductive to this notion, can be interpreted as tactics. During the Károlyi government, due to his commitment to constitutional monarchy and his consistent ideas on church financing, he was exposed to attacks. In the short period of the proletár dictatorship in his tactic seeking a .modus vivendi’ and possibility to prevent nationalisation of the ecclesial property , he chose - under the guise of involuntary cooperation - an attitude of constant delay to act upon the demands. The Communists considered him to be the possible local leader of counter-revolution, therefore, in the last couple of days of their rule he wTas arrested and his family was slandered. After the arrival of the Romanian troops he felt relieved as he was open to the idea of personal union between the countries which seemed to be an option for him. However after witnessing the atrocities committed by Romanian troops and their expansionism toward to Transtibiscan region, he turned into a leader of resistance in Debrecen. At the same time he opposed the political forces which emphasized the collective guilt of the Jewish people and freemasonry. This provoked another smear campaign against him. After re-organising of church affairs together with other church leaders he made efforts to preserve the structure and organisation of the church district and the Hungarian Reformed Church, despite the fact that the state borders changed.

This particular period of Reformed Church administration provides a vast material for comparative research of church history and through the life of Bishop Dezső Baltazár fresh light and new aspects were brought to the understanding of this important period of church history.

222