In connection with the 125th anniversary of the birth of Bishop Márton Áron, the Márton Áron Gifted Care Center in Csíkszereda, named after him, organized a memorial evening. Both secular and ecclesiastical leaders shared their personal memories of the bishop.
In addition to the student community and staff of the college, the academics of FK Csíkszereda also participated in the event held on Thursday afternoon in the hall of Márton Áron High School. As an introduction, Annamária Ráduly, the institution's director of studies, said: the center was established in 2016 in the spirit of the bishop's life and teaching. The aforementioned agreement reached through Bethlen Gábor Alapkezelő Zrt. is owed to the responsible Hungarian government.
As the first speaker, László Tóth, Consul General of the Consulate General of Hungary in Csíkszereda, believed that he discovered the spirituality of Áron Márton even as a child, in the spirituality of his family. It can be a great experience to get to know his life. In connection with the organization of the commemorative year, very noble tasks were assigned to me as part of the class, and I myself was several times interested in his work and dedication. Overall, I see that this commemorative year was a success - he evaluated the anniversary. The superior also gave a brief insight into several books about the bishop, most of which he donated to the center's library.
László Varga, the director of the Márton Áron High School serving as the venue, mentioned in his speech that unfortunately not everyone had heard of the school's namesake at the time due to the state system. During the communist dictatorship, his name was not heard in many places outside the Catholic Church and the narrower area. The younger generation was the victim of this, as the system made sure that writings related to the bishop could not be accessed either in the school or in the library, he recalled. He said that, as head of the institution, he tries to immerse himself more and more in the teaching of Áron Márton, they commemorate him on every anniversary, and he likes to embrace projects related to the name system with his students.
Tamás Levente, the head of the neighboring Mária Help Roman Catholic High School, supplemented all of this by voicing the written thoughts of the former bishop, conveying their weight and meaning to today's youth as well. Regarding the mission of the school, Áron Márton believed that it is not enough to just provide information. The real goal is the education of character - underlined the director.
Source: szekelyhon.ro
Later, the students of the college read out details from the bishop's admonitions, then József Tamás, retired assistant bishop, spoke about the period of the persecution in addition to his personal experiences. He was arrested because he did not act as they wanted. He was in prison for five years, and by then the troubled church needed his presence. He returned to his community as a hero, but after a year and a half his tours were banned and he was sentenced to house arrest. For ten years, he was only allowed to leave the bishop's palace under the pretext of mass to be celebrated in the cathedral, he enlivened. At the same time, he experienced 1956 as a joyful moment, when the bishop in Csíkszentsimon administered the sacrament of confirmation to him.
Source: szekelyhon.ro
László Rezső, the pastor of the center, pointed out that, in his view, the "only" five years he spent in the prison in Máramaros made him truly a human cathedral. Finally, titular dean József Darvas Kozma reported on the assistance given to him. There was a case when the state authorities persecuted me with provocation. They wanted to dissuade me from the ecclesiastical career, but the bishop stood by me. They didn't even allow me to work as a priest, he intervened for me and I was assigned to Gyergyószentmiklós - he explained what he owes to Áron Márton. The leader of the Szent Kreszt Plébány highlighted the fact that a school, a street, a sculpture group and the talent development center in Csíkszereda bear his name.
Source and image: szekelyhon.ro / Nándor Veres
