“The time for joy and thanksgiving has come,” Orbán wrote in his letter. “The huge amount of work that has been done and the years-long struggle have paid off: the Reformed College of Târgu Mureș has been restored to its former glory.”

The prime minister thanked Transylvania Hungarians for their perseverance, work and prayers. He said the Reformed Church community had followed their conscience despite all the difficulties they had faced.

“Because we Hungarians were already fighting for our survival when the Reformation first made its way to Hungary and Transylvania,” he said.

“The homeland that had been ripped into three parts lay in ruins and hope for prosperity and glory was all but lost when the Word of God preached and read out in the mother tongue was able to fill people with strength again.”

New congregations and schools were set up, including the Reformed College of Târgu Mureș, which over its five centuries of existence produced many eventual scientists, teachers as well as church and secular leaders, Orbán added.

“As we look around today on the anniversary of the Reformation, we see that Reformed kindergartens and schools are being built and renovated in Transylvania,” the prime minister said, adding that those institutions were crucial to the survival of Hungarians.

He said all the conditions at the Reformed College of Târgu Mureș were in place for the school to have more graduates committed to their homeland like their renowned predecessors.


MTI Photo: Zoltán Máthé