FORMATION OF THE REFORMED CHURCH DISTRICT WITHIN SUBCARPATHIAN RUS

Abstract

The article expresses the author’s attempt to outline the process of organizational and institutional design of the Reformed Church District within Subcarpathian Rus. It is noted that the Hungarian Reformed communities of the region found themselves isolated from the Reformed Church leaders after the First World War. That uncertainty negatively affected the overall tone of the Hungarian population, despite its religious affiliation. Two camps originated among the Reformed Church activists who remained on the territory of the newly formed Czechoslovakia concerning the future of the Reformed dioceses of Subcarpathian Rus. Some, including the newly elected Bishop Zinke, considered the possible alignment of the Transcarpathian dioceses to the Slovak Prytysyn Church District. Others argued for the separation and formation of an independent church district within Subcarpathian Rus. The Government circles “encouraged” that suggestion. The process of arranging the Reformed Church District within Subcarpathian Rus began almost after Saint-Germain and Trianon and ended only in 1923. As noted by the author, the relationship between the Reformed Church and the state remained complex and tense. The state did not openly restrict the autonomous rights of the church. However, several problems remained unsolved and caused conflicts: the issues of church officials’ and teachers’ citizenship, payment of congrues and promised state subventions, church school status, the language of instruction in church schools, national and religious affiliation of church school students, etc. The government was also dissatisfied with the candidacy of B. Bertok, the elected bishop of the Reformed Church of Subcarpathian Rus. For almost a decade (1932), the authorities de jure recognized the status of the Reformed Church District of Subcarpathian Rus but failed to admit Bertok’s status as the elected church head.