A Theology of National Minorities

A THEOLOGY OF NATIONAL MINORITIES Edited by Joseph Pungur Angelus Publishers & Emmaus Publishers 1 “Fear not little flock, for its is your Father’s good pleasure to give to you the kingdom”. (Luke 12,32) “Gloria Victis!” 2 C O N T E N T S Contributors iii Foreword iv Joseph Pungur 1. Outlines of a Theology of National Minorities 1 Joseph Pungur 2. A Theology of Minority Loránt Hegedűs 3. The National Minority Existence in the Life of the Chosen People in the Old Testament Lajos Tóth 4. National Minorities and the New Testament Theology István Tõkés 5. Ethnic Minorities in Hungarian Preachers Géza Boross 6. National Minorities in the 16th Century Transylvania Judit Császár-Pungur 7. Patriotism, Nationalism: the Ethical Problem of the 20th Century Judit Császár-Pungur 8. National Minorities: Their Right to Justice and Recognition Gregory Baum 9. Hungarian Minorities in Europe: A Case Study Robert Pátkay 10. Fights for the Rights of National Minorities in Romania László Tõkés 11. We Demand our Rights Botond Somogyi 12. Hungarians in Czechoslovakia After the Second World War (1945-1948) Katalin Vadkerty 13 Church and Politics Géza Erdélyi 14. Moral Questions of Pastoral Work in Central-Eastern Europe After the Politico-Economic Change Géza Erdélyi 15. The Situation of the Reformed Church in Sub-Carpathian Ukraine Lajos Gulácsi 16. The Reformed Church in Sub-Carpathian Ukraine in the 1990s László Horkay 17. The Situation of the Christian Reformed Church in Yugoslavia (as Reflected by Current Proceedings Dealing with Regional Issues) István Csete-Szemesi 18. Attempts to Resolve the Problems of the Ethnic Minorities in the Carpathian Basin Joseph Pungur 3 CONTRIBUTORS BAUM, GREGORY, Roman Catholic theologian, retired professor of McGill University (Montreal, Canada), member of editorial board of “Concilium”, the Roman Catholic periodical, author of many theological books. BOROSS, GÉZA, Professor of Practical Theology of the Theological Department of Károli Gáspár Reformed University (Budapest, Hungary), author of many theological books and articles. CSÁSZÁR-PUNGUR, JUDIT, High School teacher, teacher of religion, author of many articles in Reformed Church history (Hungary). CSETE SZEMESI, ISTVÁN, Bishop of the Reformed Christian Church in Yugoslavia, and the minister of the congregation of Feketics (Voivodina, Yugoslavia). ERDÉLYI, GÉZA, Bishop of the Reformed Christian Church in Slovakia, lecturer of the Charles University (Prague, Czech Republic), minister of the congregation of Rim. Sobota (Rimaszombat, Slovakia). GULÁCSY, LAJOS, Retired Bishop of the Reformed Church in Sub-Carpathian Ukraine, minister of the congregation in Munkács (Sub-Carpathian Ukraine). HEGEDÛS, LORÁNT, Bishop of the Danubian Reformed District of the Reformed Church in Hungary, managing president of the Consulting Synod of the Hungarian Reformed Churches, guest lecturer of Universities abroad, author of many theological books and articles. HORKAY, LÁSZLÓ, Bishop of the Reformed Church in Sub-Carpathian Ukraine, Minister of the Reformed Church in Nagydobrony (Sub-Carpathian Ukraine). PÁTKAI, J. ROBERT, Retired Lutheran Bishop of Great Britain, university lecturer, author of many theological articles (Great Britain). PUNGUR, JOSEPH, Former professor of the Department of Religious Studies of University of Alberta (Edmonton, Canada), former professor of St. Paul’s United Theological College (Limuru, Kenya), minister of the Calvin Hungarian Presbyterian Church (Calgary, Canada), author of many theological articles and books. SOMOGYI, BOTOND, Counselor of Bishopric of the Transylvanian Reformed Church, (Romania), reformed minister. TÓTH, LAJOS, Reformed minister, editor in chief of the “Reformed Church” (Református Egyház), the official periodical of the Reformed Church in Hungary, and editor of the “Reformed Newspaper” (Reformátusok Lapja), the Reformed weekly, author of many theological articles (Hungary). TÕKÉS, ISTVÁN, Retired professor of the Protestant Theological Institute (Kolozsvár, Transylvania, Romania), author of many theological books (13) and articles (120), his service is significant both in the Church and in the public life. TÕKÉS, LÁSZLÓ, Bishop of the Királyhágómellék District of the Reformed Church (Romania), the hero of the Romanian revolution of 1989 which toppled the communist regime, politician, the defender of the rights of the Hungarian ethnic minority in Romania, author of many theological and political books and articles. VADKERTY, KATALIN, Historian of Hungarian ethnic minority in Slovakia (Slovakia). 4 FOREWORD Among the difficult and grave problems of our world the questions related to national minorities occupy an important place. National or ethnic minorities are national groups living under the authority of ruling majority nations as the consequence of either ancient settlement, territorial occupation or peace treaties. In most cases the ethnic minorities feel themselves threatened by the majority nation in language, in heritage, in culture and in many cases in their very existence. The world is full of ethnic minorities living under the rule of majority nations. In Africa, in Asia, in the former Soviet Union, even in the Western Europe and North America. The ethnic minorities, usually linguistically distinct communities within greater nations, stand up for their autonomy, self determination or even for secession. To mention some: the Kurds are ethnic minority in Turkey, in Syria and in Iraq. Tamils are a national minority in Sri-Lanka. The Czechens are in deadly secessionist fight from Russia. The Indians, the Puerto Ricans and the Latin Americans are ethnic minorities living in the U.S.A. In Canada the Indians and even the French in Quebec consider themselves ethnic minorities and almost a half of it in serious quest for their independence, although the French entered into confederation with the English speaking Canadians in 1867. However Europe is the continent where the problem of national minorities has become most acute. In some countries in Western Europe this problem can be regarded as solved, as for instance the German ethnic minority in Belgium, the Austrian minority in South Tyrol and the Swedish minority in Finland. Not long ago the British parliament granted the right to the Scots to set up their own parliament, what they did, and the Welsh now have the same right. In other places there are still growing problems. Northern Ireland’s IRA is still in fight for independence from Great Britain. The Basques and the Catalans in Spain, the Bretons and the Corsicans in France organizing themselves. Yugoslavia fell apart in a tragic civil war in the last decade. Its ethnic minorities − the Croats, Slovenes and Bosnians won freedom from the domination of the Serbs and now have their own country. The ethnic Albanians of Kosovo in Serbia, constituting the majority in that province, were involved in a deadly fight for its independence or at least autonomy. In Eastern Europe quite a few national minorities live under the rule of majority nations: Germans in the Chech Republic and in Poland. Poles in Belarus and in Ukraine. Hungarians in Sub-Carpathian Ukraine, in Southern-Slovakia, in Voivodina of Northern Serbia and in Transylvania of Western Romania − to mention only a few. So far Christian Theology ignored the problem of ethnic minorities. Probably because the question of national minorities is a sensitive issue. Furthermore, this theme is taboo, since it is related to the controversial issue of nationalism. However theologians forget to consider that there are at least two basic forms of nationalism: one is the offensive-aggressive type which culminated in nazism the other is its defensive type applied rightfully by oppressed national minorities as a shield and protection for their own survival in the threat of the aggressive nationalism of the majority nation. While Christian Theology had dealt in depth with the social problems of our time in the meantime it completely neglected the problem of national-ethnic minorities. Since this problem has come up once more, the time has arrived for Christian Theology to deal with the critical problem of the national-ethnic minorities. 5 The purpose of this book is to analyze the problem from the point of view of Christian Theology; to put it in the light of Christian Theology; to tell about it its own terms and put this issue in the forefront of theologians' reflection. Like other theologies this is also a political theology, since it occurs in the “polis” the human society, and it reflect upon its miseries and offer its own solutions. It also provides case studies of minority problems of the Carpathian basin in East-Central Europe. I also draw attention to the ecumenical character of the book, to which valued contributions have been made by Reformed, Presbyterian, Lutheran and Roman Catholic Theologians from various countries. I express my gratitude to the contributors. Their excellent essays prove the complexity of the problem and they shed lights for its deeper understanding and they offer possible solutions for this excruciating problem. I especially thankful to Dr. Iain F. Clayre for his valuable suggestions in editing the text, and to Rev. Dr. Thomas Nyárády, Éva Kossuth, Rev. Szilvia Tóth, Martin M. Robb for translating some of the essays and Rev. Károly Gödöllei for essential technical woks. I am grateful to Rev. Béla Pungur for his valuable remarks and the Illyés Foundation for its generous help. Without their significant assistance this book, the enlarged and updated English

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