Students are constantly arriving who want the school to become independent again.

Even during the series of liquidations, the demand for the Catholic school in Marosvásárhely did not stop, students are constantly arriving who want the school to become independent again

- said Zsolt Tamási, the canceled II. Former director of Ferenc Rákóczi Roman Catholic High School.

The 21 classes of the liquidated Transylvanian Hungarian school are currently divided into Bolyai Farkas High School. On Tuesday, its students and the church celebrated the 20th anniversary of the restart of Catholic education in the Transylvanian city.

Explaining the school's legal situation, Zsolt Tamási told MTI by phone: the Romanian Supreme Court left the Catholic school without an operating license in its final decision of May 2022. Its classes were uniformly divided into Bolyai Farkas High School, where they started 20 years ago. The former director now leads them in the capacity of deputy director.

He reminded: since May 2022, the local government has initiated the reopening of the school twice, but the prefect of Maros County challenged both decisions of the local government in the administrative court.

In the case of the 2022 initiative, a legally binding decision was made in February, rejecting the municipality's intention to establish a school. There is still no final verdict on the 2023 initiative, but the basic court decision deemed all the steps taken by the municipality to be legal, only objecting to the word "Catholic" being included in the school's name.

"Thus, for the time being, we still operate within the framework of the Bolyai Lyceum, but the internal identity of the school has been preserved, all 21 classes continue their studies in the church property"

said Zsolt Tamási.

He added: the classes of the Catholic school operate according to the rules of the Bolyai Lyceum, but they hold their own special holidays, the opening of the school year, the ribbon-cutting ceremony, and the end of the year are also organized separately, while the official documents must be handled in the Bolyai.

Zsolt Tamási underlined:

they have not given up on re-establishing the school, they are working on a solution with lawyers and politicians, with their help hopefully the current "forced situation" will end. However, for this we have to wait for the final court decision regarding the 2023 local government initiative.

"During the past period, it became clear that the demand for the school was constantly increasing. This can also be seen in numbers, instead of the initial four classes, there are now 21," said the former director.

He recalled: in the last twenty years, 530 students completed their studies at the institution, and they have the same number of students currently. "The school practically exists, its baptismal certificate needs to be settled legally, and if it is there, it will continue to grow in the same way," said Zsolt Tamási.

Said:

they wanted to commemorate the start of the theology classes 20 years ago, and the feast of the school's patron saint, Prince St. Imre, was the right time for this.

He recalled: the initiators of the restart were alumni of the former Catholic school, which was nationalized in 1948 and thus closed down, and they wanted to thank them and the host Bolyai High School for their support. But they also wanted to strengthen the awareness of the current students that they are studying in an educational institution with a long history, he added.

The celebratory mass held on the occasion was celebrated by the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Gyulafehérvár, Gergely Kovács, who pointed out that the past twenty years are a good foundation that should be continued.

István Dolhai, the Consul General of Hungary in Csíkszereda, emphasized: in the Catholic school, students not only learn, but also get educated, they absorb a set of values. He also assured the institution of the support of the Hungarian government. At the event, students starting their first year at the school took the pledge.

After that, a commemorative plaque was inaugurated at the Bolyai High School, with which the community of the Catholic school thanks the host educational institution for its support. In the afternoon, the celebration continued with an exhibition opening, a presentation of publications, and a round table discussion.

Featured image: Boda L. Gergely / erdelyinaplo.ro