Viable Cooperation or Unscrupulous Service? Motivations for Albert Bereczky’s Activity in Church Governance

Albert Bereczky is one of the controversial figures in the 20th-century history of the Hungarian Reformed Church. Bereczky was a genuine and authentic leader of those who fought for the inner spiritual renewal of the church between the two world wars, a church organizer, a well-known and respected...

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Main Author: Gábor LÁNYI
Format: Article
Language:deu
Published: Cluj University Press 2024-07-01
Series:Studia Universitatis Babeş-Bolyai. Theologia Reformata Transylvanica
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Online Access:https://studia.reviste.ubbcluj.ro/index.php/subbtheologiareformata/article/view/7488
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author Gábor LÁNYI
author_facet Gábor LÁNYI
author_sort Gábor LÁNYI
collection DOAJ
description Albert Bereczky is one of the controversial figures in the 20th-century history of the Hungarian Reformed Church. Bereczky was a genuine and authentic leader of those who fought for the inner spiritual renewal of the church between the two world wars, a church organizer, a well-known and respected preacher, who saved many by risking his life during the deportation of Hungarian Jews to extermination camps, for which he was posthumously awarded the honorary title “Righteous Among the Nations” from the Yad Vashem. However, the communist state apparatus established after World War II found in him the person who, by placing him at the head of the Reformed Church, could bring about a radical reduction of the public and social role of the Church almost without any resistance. So, the question arises: how and why could Bereczky, whose Christian commitment was hard to question, become the servant of the dictatorial state apparatus with its atheistic ideology? Our study attempts to record the possible intrinsic and extrinsic motivations that might explain this dilemma, while also providing a general insight into Albert Bereczky’s life.
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2065-9482
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series Studia Universitatis Babeş-Bolyai. Theologia Reformata Transylvanica
spelling doaj-art-9ac591c857eb4bb08523543ae5baf1292025-08-20T03:29:02ZdeuCluj University PressStudia Universitatis Babeş-Bolyai. Theologia Reformata Transylvanica1582-54182065-94822024-07-0169Supplement 110.24193/subbtref.69.suppl1.06Viable Cooperation or Unscrupulous Service? Motivations for Albert Bereczky’s Activity in Church GovernanceGábor LÁNYI0https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6512-6681Department of Church History, Károli Gáspár University of the Reformed Church in Hungary, Budapest, lanyi.gabor@kre.hu. Albert Bereczky is one of the controversial figures in the 20th-century history of the Hungarian Reformed Church. Bereczky was a genuine and authentic leader of those who fought for the inner spiritual renewal of the church between the two world wars, a church organizer, a well-known and respected preacher, who saved many by risking his life during the deportation of Hungarian Jews to extermination camps, for which he was posthumously awarded the honorary title “Righteous Among the Nations” from the Yad Vashem. However, the communist state apparatus established after World War II found in him the person who, by placing him at the head of the Reformed Church, could bring about a radical reduction of the public and social role of the Church almost without any resistance. So, the question arises: how and why could Bereczky, whose Christian commitment was hard to question, become the servant of the dictatorial state apparatus with its atheistic ideology? Our study attempts to record the possible intrinsic and extrinsic motivations that might explain this dilemma, while also providing a general insight into Albert Bereczky’s life. https://studia.reviste.ubbcluj.ro/index.php/subbtheologiareformata/article/view/7488Bishop Albert BereczkyZoltán TildyChurch–state relationshipcommunist persecution of Christianscollaboration
spellingShingle Gábor LÁNYI
Viable Cooperation or Unscrupulous Service? Motivations for Albert Bereczky’s Activity in Church Governance
Studia Universitatis Babeş-Bolyai. Theologia Reformata Transylvanica
Bishop Albert Bereczky
Zoltán Tildy
Church–state relationship
communist persecution of Christians
collaboration
title Viable Cooperation or Unscrupulous Service? Motivations for Albert Bereczky’s Activity in Church Governance
title_full Viable Cooperation or Unscrupulous Service? Motivations for Albert Bereczky’s Activity in Church Governance
title_fullStr Viable Cooperation or Unscrupulous Service? Motivations for Albert Bereczky’s Activity in Church Governance
title_full_unstemmed Viable Cooperation or Unscrupulous Service? Motivations for Albert Bereczky’s Activity in Church Governance
title_short Viable Cooperation or Unscrupulous Service? Motivations for Albert Bereczky’s Activity in Church Governance
title_sort viable cooperation or unscrupulous service motivations for albert bereczky s activity in church governance
topic Bishop Albert Bereczky
Zoltán Tildy
Church–state relationship
communist persecution of Christians
collaboration
url https://studia.reviste.ubbcluj.ro/index.php/subbtheologiareformata/article/view/7488
work_keys_str_mv AT gaborlanyi viablecooperationorunscrupulousservicemotivationsforalbertbereczkysactivityinchurchgovernance