It was a surprise that the post was not given to the interim president who succeeded Balog.

The position of the synod's new pastor president, the successor of Zoltán Balog, was also decided in Balatonszárszó, where the Reformed Church of Hungary is meeting on April 24-25. The meeting also put the law on the legal status of pastors, the law on religious education and the amendment of the regulations on the agenda.

The meeting of the Reformed synod, which also decided on the office of the pastor president, set among its timely tasks the commemoration of the 50-year work of the Leprosy Mission in Hungary and the election of the Protestant field bishop of the Hungarian Reformed Church XV. within the ninth session of its synodal cycle - he wrote on his website .

According to the synod's information, Zoltán Balog, after resigning from the post of pastor president, temporarily handed over the duties to Dániel Pásztor, the synod's vice president of the pastor, pending a decision. Dániel Pásztor, bishop of the Tiszáninnen Reformed Church District, was previously supported as the new president.

But to a great surprise, on Wednesday morning, the Synod finally chose Bishop József Steinbach as its pastor president. Bishop Dániel Pásztor of Tiszánin will remain the vice president, it was announced.

They wrote

"Bishop Zoltán Balog's resignation from the position of pastor president of the Synod was taken into account in the framework of resolutions".

After Zoltán Balog's homily, as well as the establishment and presentation of the series of subjects, the spring session of the Synod continued in a closed circle. Within the framework of the resolution, the assembled people took note of the resignation of Bishop Zsinat Balog from the post of pastor and recognized his service for the church.

Zoltán Balog resigned from his position as pastor of the Synod, following the resignation of the President of the Republic, Katalin Novák, in February. Balog worked as an advisor to Katalin Novák and supported Endre K.'s request for clemency. The President of the Republic granted the pardon to the former deputy director of the Bicske orphanage, who was sentenced to 3 years and 4 months in prison for the crime of coercion, referring to the visit of Pope Francis.

K. ENDRE WAS THE SUBSTITUTE OF THE CONVICTED PEDOPHILE JÁNOS V., THE DIRECTOR OF THE BICSKE CHILDREN'S SCHOOL, AND HE TRIED TO EXERCISE PRESSURE ON THE CHILDREN TO RETRACT THEIR CONFESSIONS AND TAKE FALSE TESTIMONY.

Zoltán Balog, who admitted that he made a mistake and had a role in the clemency decision, previously worked as the Minister of Human Resources, as a bishop and as pastor president. Zoltán Balog said that he should apologize not because he sided with a person asking for mercy, but because the case caused damage to the Reformed Church.

According to his point of view, the public and political approach is different from the spiritual approach. He resigned from the position of president of the synod due to efforts to break unity. Not long after, he announced that he would also resign from the position of honorary president of the Small Virtuosos Foundation. The organization was created as a community organized to help outstanding musical talents with a difficult fate.

However, Zoltán Balog has not yet resigned from the episcopal seat of the Dunamellek Diocese.

Featured image: József Steinbach, bishop of the Transdanubian Reformed Church District, at the press conference after the synod meeting of the Hungarian Reformed Church in Balatonszárszó on April 24, 2024. In a closed session, the synod elected József Steinbach as pastor president. MTI/Tamás Vasvári