Fraternity-Testvériség, 1989 (67. évfolyam, 1-3. szám)
1989-04-01 / 2. szám
FRATERNITY PAGE 9 THE SÁROSPATAK REFORMED ACADEMY 1531-1951; 1990-? Ancient School at Sárospatak Returned to the Reformed Church! How would you like to see that headline? Impossible, you say? Preposterous, perhaps? Well, hardly. With all the changes going on in Eastern Europe in general and in Hungary in particular, that transfer is a distinct possibility. Sárospatak never should have been taken from the church in the first place. When the Hungarian state and the Reformed Church of Hungary signed an agreement on October 7,1948, turning over more than 1,300 schools to the state, one provision was that: The Government agrees that in view of the merits of the Reformed Church in the field of Hungarian school education, and in order to secure the training of future pastors, the following Reformed colleges with a great historical tradition may remain schools of the church. . . . First mentioned are the Gymnasium, Lyceum, Teachers' Institute, and Theological Seminary at Sárospatak, Hungary's oldest Protestant school, with those of Debrecen, Papa, and Budapest following. How come, then, that things did not turn out that way and that only Debrecen remained as a church institution? The sad answer is that church officials, feeling the pressures of the times and without synodical authorization, gave the schools to the state in 1951 and 1952. Thus it came about that in venerable educational institutions where Jesus Christ had been hailed as Lord, atheism became the official creed. Names were changed, so that the 400-year old Sárospatak Reformed Academy became the Rákóczi Gymnasium, and pictures of Lenin and others in the Communist pantheon were hung on classroom walls. Colleges, or departments, were either eliminated—as happened to the theological seminary—or pressed into the service of the "Party" and the new society which it promised to create. That does not mean that administration, teachers, and students were transformed into Communists overnight. It does mean, however, the beginning of fundamental changes in every department of the school's life. Education was especially important to the new ideology since it molded the minds of future leaders through the institutional apparatus at hand. When the new thinking and program were imposed on people, the reaction was at first incredulity, often mixed with a sense of hopelessness and sometimes rage. A close friend in Sárospatak told me later that he died in 1948. He had been a great teacher and administrator, but the change from an historic Christian orientation to the "Party Line" had killed his spirit. Another teacher stressed the need for patience and firm faith in God. "This too shall pass," was his comforting assurance to himself, me, and others. That hope sustained him. The faith and hope of those Christian educators, and hundreds of others with similar convictions, has been vindicated. Changes, at first minor and often subtle, which have been going on for over 20 years are accelerating and there is promise of more to come. A view of the Academy
