Tárogató, 1943-1944 (6. évfolyam, 3-12. szám)
1943-11-01 / 5. szám
16 TÁROGATÓ issues, such as the question of euthanasia; and in quiet ways behind the scenes to find opportunities of influencing public policy in a right direction. The ingenuity and resource by which means are found of carrying out these purposes, in face of obstacles of every kind, will provide material for a very interesting chapter in the history of the Church. The survival of the Churhes is at the same time a fact of the highest importance for the task of reconstruction in Europe, because they are almost the only institutions remaining in Europe’s past. There is at least the possibility that they may become the chief rallying points in Europe for the conservation of the values that have given its character and strength to Western civilization. The universal Church owes a lasting debt of gratitude to the courageous men and women, known and unknown, clerical and lay, who at the risk, and often at the price, of life and freedom, in face of dangers that were sometimes acute, have succeeded up to the present in saving from complete destruction the Christian Church in Europe. A Crippled Existence But while the Church in Europe survives, it is condemned for the present to a maimed and crippled existence. Even where services are permitted they are often visited and spied on by the police. There is a great shortage of pastors and other Christian workers. There is a famine of Christian literature. Most serious of all have been the drastic restrictions on Christian influence on youth. In Germany, and some of the occupied countries, the Churches have been almost completely dispossessed from the field of education. It is obviqus that in the circumstances that have been described the Churches are largely debarred from exerting direct influence on public policy such as is possible for those who live under free institutions. What is surprising is how much has been actually accomplished in most difficult circumstances and at grave personal risk. The restrictions which limit present action have not led Christians on the Continent to turn aside from the sphere of public responsibility and to seek refuge in a purely inner sphere of religious life. On the contrary the evidence is that the conflicts of the present have given them a deeper and stronger sense of their responsibility to the nation as a whole and made them eager to take their part in the tasks of social and political reconstruction after the war. A NOTABLE AFRICAN WOMAN By J. H. Arnup One safe standard by which to judge the advance of civilization in any country is the degree of emancipation accorded to its women. In Ethiopia, as in most of Africa, women have been backward, in other words, held in subjection by the men. It was only in 1935 that the first public organization of women was formed, to help in that country’s heroic resistance against Italy. It was called the Ethiopian Women’s Work Association, and its object was to provide medical supplies and comforts for the troops. The Vice-President of that organization was Princess Tsahai, daughter of the Emperor. The Princess decided that she would like to become a nurse and, finally, the Emperor’s consent was secured. She proceeded to England for training at the Hospital for Sick Children at Great Ormond Street, London, and from there entered the famous Guy’s Hospital. At both places she waived the special privileges which might have been accorded to one of her rank and was treated exactly as the other nurses, among whom she was greatly beloved. Before leaving St. Giles she became a head nurse and was training probationers. Returning to Ethiopia in 1941 Princess Tsahai threw herself into hospital orgfmization and children’s welfare work, in which she at once became a national leader. This note is occasioned by her untimely death at the early age of twentytwo. But her soul goes marching on.-—“Onward." A GREAT STATESMAN ON THE WORLD WAR General Smuts, the veteran South African statesman, challenges us all in his far-sighted summary of the present conflict: I look upon this war as one of the great religious wars of the world. It is once more the historic fight which has been fought out from age to age—the fight between light and darkness. Let us say good-bye to comfort. The spirit of dedication and consecration is called for. We are fighting today for things compared with which the betterment of our earthly lot means nothing at all. —Gen. Smuts. “Wherever Jesus is realised, the Kigdom has come already." —Hugh Redwood.
