Loránt Hegedűs’ life work serves posterity – Gergely Gulyás paid tribute to the late Reformed bishop at Károli Gáspár University (KRE) on Friday, opening the plaque dedicated to him.
The Minister in Charge of the Prime Minister’s Office affirmed: It is thanks to Laurent Hegedos that the Reformed University was established thirty years ago, which is now the defining intellectual workshop of Hungarian Christianity.
He touched on: Laurent Hegedes made his call to trust in God alone during the era of despair during socialism. Wherever he served, in Budapest or during persecution, communities arose around him.
He recalls: Laurent Hegedus Bishop’s vocation was reorganization and reorganization, and he put the school system and the cause of education reform at the forefront of this.
As a theologian and university person, he was the first to see the need for a reformed university and the creation of a reformed higher education. For this, he had to fight serious battles and convince many people.
“He won, and that is why we can stand here today and ask ourselves whether there can be a greater victory for an idea, a cause, and a person than when even his opponents become supporters.”
said the prime minister.
With three decades in the business, Magyar Református Egyház has elevated Cároly to the top universities in the country. This result speaks for itself and confirms the correctness of the late bishop, – concluded Gergeli Julias.
The successful operation of any institution that cultivates culture and science in the Hungarian language and thus creates a community is a national interest. Everything that happens in Károlin is now an indispensable part of Hungarian higher education. Gergely Gulyás added that the class of 30 years, who gained his knowledge and worldview here, is now part of the world of local public education, science, law and the daily life of the country in general.
Zoltan Balog, Bishop of the Danube, President of the Synod of the Hungarian Reformed Church, spoke of:
Founding KRE required three things: courage of faith, prophetic vision and theological thinking with offensive scientific demands.
It required courage of faith, because by 1993, the hope was that 1990 would mark a new beginning for the entire Hungarian nation not only in economic and common law, but also cultural and spiritual. So the idea of founding a university requires a courage of faith, a kind of “unwavering faith”.
The question was whether there would be political will and support for the founding of the university, whether there would be applicants, whether there would be enough good teachers, and whether, as the reformed bishop stated, there would be agreement with the Church. We “missed” each of them, but “after faith” he founded the university.
The establishment of the university also required “the prophetic insight”.
Follow Zoltan Balogh. It is not yet clear, but there were those who clearly saw that spiritual conflicts were coming, in which “we will need spiritual weapons.”
Finally, offensive theological reasoning was needed. Just as Laurent Hegedus was able to reflect on the meaning of theology, admitting that “we should not seek a place at the table of science in a self-denying way, not in repentance, not as a minority,” because theology is the root of all true science.
Because of these three qualities, the courage of his faith, his prophetic clarity, and his aggressive scientific theological reasoning, Laurent Hegedos deserves “the recognition and perpetuation of his memory.”
At the same time, this is only the beginning, because we still have to “complete the restoration of the work of the life you deserve.”
Zoltan Balog added.
Reformed pastor Laurent Hegedus, Jr. thanked the memorial plaque to his father on behalf of the family.
Remembering the past brings with it a lot of pain, he said, noting that as much as he pleased his father that he could become an honorary professor at Charles University, it hurt him so much that he could not even stay at this university as a lecturer at that time.
Politics and church politics are often interdependent, but leaders in religion must be judged far from political and partisan undertones.
he added:
Despite the traumatic experiences of the last two decades of his father’s life, he still stands for what Endre Addy put it this way: “From today and forever I love all people.”
László Trócsányi, Dean of KRE, recalls that Loránt Hegedűs was always full of energy and ideas, and what he imagined came true. That is why we can be here today in the reformed university.
At the time of regime change, he added, the Reformed bishop offered a new vision for the dormant Reformed church.
On its 30th anniversary, KRE organized a series of events. The opening program was a conference held at the Hungarian Academy of Sciences on Friday morning. On March 31, a memorial concert will be held at the Academy of Music, where the composer Zsolt Gárdonyi’s piece for mixed harp and organ, which he composed for the anniversary, will be presented. On the occasion of the jubilee, a commemorative volume and a documentary film showcasing the history of the university are being prepared.
OUR FEATURED PHOTO: Prime Minister Gergeli Gulias delivers a speech at the opening of the memorial plaque in memory of Laurent Hegedos, founding bishop of Karoly Gaspar Reformatos University, on February 24, 2023. (Photo: MTI/Atila Kovács)
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