Although representatives of the Reformed, Roman Catholic and Greek Catholic churches were present at the revolutionary commemoration held in Szatmárnémeti on December 22, they were left out of the program.
On the anniversary of the system-changing revolution of 1989, the festive drive held at the Anti-Communist Resistance Memorial in the new center of Szatmárnémeti left the Hungarian community in Szatmár with a sad aftertaste. At the commemoration organized jointly by the Szatmár County Prefecture and the Szatmár German unit of the Romanian army, the organizers simply jumped to the next program item after the Orthodox ceremony and prayer.
Which means that after many years of tradition, no prayer could be said in Hungarian for the young people who lost their lives in the revolutionary events, for the Szatmár heroes of the revolution.
However, Romanian was not the only mother tongue of the heroes of Szatmár. In addition to Ciul Ioan Marinel, Zimbru Grigore and Sălăjan Raluca, Mihály Király, György Sófalvi, Antal Szabó and Csaba Gergely died a heroic death.
Moreover, in addition to the representatives of the Orthodox Church, there were also representatives of the Reformed, Roman Catholic and Greek Catholic churches among the participants this year.
Szatmár county politicians drew attention to the sad and at the same time infuriating case in a series of Facebook posts.
"Preparing for the Christmas holidays in the spirit of love and forgiveness, the organizers of the event commemorating the 1989 revolution rejected the Greek and Roman Catholic and Reformed prayers intended for the spiritual well-being of the victims, despite the fact that among the heroic dead there are members of such denominations"
- wrote Gábor Kerskényi, mayor of Szatmárnémeti.
"In December 1989 in Timișoara, it was a reformed minister who stood up loudly against the repressions of the communist dictatorship. His voice reached the whole country and brought change. Today, in Szatmárnémeti, the pastors of our community are not allowed to speak in their mother tongue about the revolutionaries who gave their lives for freedom at the commemoration dedicated to them. In such cases, we feel that their heroic death was in vain, and that the pre-89 ideals still rear their heads today"
- can be read on the website of the county council chairman Csaba Pataki.
"On December 22, the memorial day of the 1989 revolution, we must pay tribute to the heroes who contributed with their sacrifice so that we can live freely today. Everyone who lives here in Szatmárnémeti, Szatmár county. Romanians, Hungarians, Swabians, Roma. Everybody. That is why I find it outrageous and extremely sad that no prayer for the victims was said in Hungarian at this year's commemoration."
- said parliamentarian Lóránd Magyar on Facebook.
In addition to the statements made on social media, parliamentarians Nagy Szabolcs and Lóránd Magyar and senator Lóránd Turos addressed the sad incident in an official letter to the socialist prefect Radu Roca. They ask for an explanation from the organizer of the event as to why, although they were invited to the commemoration, the representatives of the above-mentioned denominations were not allowed to say an Our Father for the Szatmár heroes of the revolution, four of whom were Hungarians.
Featured image: Monument to the anti-communist resistance / Maszol / László Czinzel
