The Reformation Memorial Committee held a commemorative session in the Upper House Hall of the House of Parliament Building on the 5th October where politicians, renowned scientists and artists, and famous public figures discussed the former and current values of Reformation and its impact on Hungary, as well as those values relationship with renewal. Historical and sociological presentations clarified the impact of Reformation on the life of Europe, and in particular on the Carpathian basin. Musicians and performers expressed the cultural treasures of Reformation. Dr László Kövér, Speaker of the National Assembly, hosted the commemorative session.
“We must not forget the precious legacy of the reformers, the guardian princes, and the righteous who suffered for the sake of the Bible” said Béla Kató, the Bishop of the Transylvanian Reformed Church District, at the commemoration of the Reformation which was held in the Parliament. For the memorial year of The Reformation, a special meeting was held on 5th of October in the Parliament’s Upper House with representatives from Protestant Churches in Carpathian Basin. Béla Kató, the Transylvanian Bishop, drew attention to the fact that Martin Luther had changed his area and the whole world five hundred years ago. “The Reformation of the Church began with the reformation of the spirit and the human.” He reminded us of the work of the Transylvanian prices István Bocskai, Gábor Bethlen and György Rákóczi. In their life education, knowledge and played an important role as well as they showed a great diplomacy, but their greatest treasure was their faith, and so we call them heroes of the reformation.
According to the Transylvanian Bishop, it is also important that when we erect statues of our spiritual forefathers, or renovate our buildings in the Jubilee Year, it demonstrates the power of the Reformation. “Our soul needs these celebrations but we must not forget the precious legacy of the reformers, the guardian princes, and the suffering of God-seeking souls for the sake of the Bible," he added. This prices defended and built the country, they thought about national strategy, but they did not miss the gospel for a moment. They knew what Kálmán Csiha the former bishop knew when he said: “The nation can be renewed only in Christ.” – emphasized Béla Kató in his address.
Dezső Adorján, bishop of the Hungarian-speaking Evangelical-Lutheran Church in Romania, made a parallel between the celebration of the anniversary of The Reformation and the Gabriel Garcia Marquez novel, the Hundred Years of Solitude. The characters in the story are attacked by a strange disease, first they cannot sleep, then they begin to forget everything. To avoid this, they write inscriptions and instructions for everything, and, as part of this, a writing in the village’s main square proclaims: “There is God.” However, because the illness causes them to forget, this becomes an empty concept, one they no longer understand. According to the Lutheran Bishop, we must take care, that the reformation does not become an empty concept like this.
“Today, in an age of forgetfulness, the sober and meaningful remembrance is precious” he said. “One of the dangers of our era is mass forgetfulness, acute amnesia. In this age of information and communication we have suddenly started to forget, and the forgetting is contagious, the danger is that we will forget God.” Where God’s name becomes empty, what happens to those who forget?
Occasions like the memorial of the Reformation are important only when the speakers do not present empty words, because the reformation is not a sealed history, but the present reality of what the risen Christ's love can be. As he said, reformation is the word, the faith, and the Present-ness of Christ, in which all generations will be responsible for their own response. "If today’s society has found an answer or has started responding, it was not in vain to celebrate," said Dezső Adorján.
Representatives of the Presidium of the General Convent of the Hungarian Reformed Church have also attended the Memorial Committee Meeting.
Ecumenical Office
Sources: reformatus.hu; reformacio2017.hu