"By means of their faith they still speak even though they are dead"

On the occasion of the anniversary, a group of 30 Reformed and Lutheran pastors, teachers and church members set off for Naples to pay respect to the memory of the galley slaves. At the opening service, retired Reformed pastor, former general secretary of the Ecumenical Council, Zoltán Bóna, in his sermon, emphasised that the pilgrimage is a tribute to our Protestant ancestors who persevered in their faith at the cost of their lives. Their example can also teach us to strengthen our faith in our daily work and to turn to one another with love and care, he said.

The pastor emphasised the readiness for sacrifice, which, if it comes from the heart, will outlive us. – “The galley slaves clung to their faith, the promise of the Lord, even at the cost of their lives. Their sacrifice speaks to us, let us listen to what they are saying to us by their endurance," he stressed. Zoltán Bóna drew attention to the fear that often controls and paralyses our lives. “Today, we still worry about the future of our church and our congregations, but the 40 Hungarian Reformed and Lutheran pastors and preachers who were deported bore their suffering and hardships by refusing to fear, and their perseverance is a living message,” he said.

The commissioning service was followed by a commemoration at the memorial plaque in the Synod building. First, Péter Kardos, a retired Reformed pastor and organiser of the pilgrimage, welcomed the participants, who had already visited related sites in Pozsony, Rimaszombat and Kassa (Slovakia), the region of the lake of Balaton in Hungary, as part of the series of programmes in memory of the Galley slaves. On the current commemorative trip, a plaque will be placed at the Evangelical Church in Naples, with the following text in three languages - Hungarian, English and Italian: "We cannot forget the thousands of victims, among them the 40 Hungarian preachers who, “by means of their faith they still speak even though they are dead (Heb 11,4).” He added that this is how they would like to remind passers-by of the Hungarian Reformed and Lutheran pastors and preachers who were condemned to galley slavery.

Tamás Fabiny, Lutheran bishop, also one of the participants of the pilgrimage, in his welcome speech, drew attention to the importance of the memory of the galley slaves. On their way to Naples, they will stop at the harbour to pay their respects to the galley slaves, and will hold a mourning service in the Lutheran church, where they will join retired Reformed pastor Gábor Vladár in a Protestant memorial service.

The aim of the pilgrimage is to enrich themselves spiritually and to grow in love for one another and in a sense of belonging. The bishop added that the leaders of the Protestant churches in Hungary have agreed to hold a joint Protestant celebration in 2026 to mark the 350th anniversary of the prisoners' release.

Gábor Vladár, president of the Doctors' College of the Reformed Church in Hungary, in his welcome speech quoted Cicero, who said that the dead come to life when the living remember well. The President said, “We must remember well. It is not an easy task, because the past is always with us, a sweet or heavy burden, but we must live with it in the present. We are the heirs of our Protestant ancestors, so it is important for all of us that the living faith of the dead strengthens the sometimes weakening faith of the living”.

Zoltán Levente Hajdú, Director General of the Mission Service, said that György Moldova's novel Forty Preachers was a defining reading experience for him as a young man. He quoted from the notes of Bálint Csergő Kocsi (1647-1698), reformed teacher, one of the most important writers of the history of the galley slaves, who described their sufferings. In his address, the head of the mission service asked what we should call apostasy today. “These forty preachers had a choice: they could have chosen silence, they could have chosen a career and converted to Catholicism - they did not, and their decision, their commitment, their stand is still a heart-wrenching warning today. Today, the circumstances, the challenges and the situations surrounding us are different, but God has placed us in them, and I would like to be worthy of their memory in this and here, before God and in front of my brothers and sisters,” concluded Zoltán Levente Hajdú.

Afterwards, the commemorators laid a wreath at the galley's memorial wall at the Synod's headquarters, and the participants of the memorial trip expressed their gratitude for the support of RCH.