The General Convent, representing the Common Synod of the Reformed Churches in and around Hungary issued a statement re-confirming that it recognizes the Reformed Christian Calvinist Church in Croatia as the only legitimate representation of the Hungarian reformed community in the country.
Statement
On behalf of the General Convent, the joint ecclesiastic organization of the Reformed Churches in Hungary, Romania, Croatia, Serbia, Slovakia and Ukraine, I issue the following declaration.
The Reformed Christian Calvinist Church in Croatia (Reformirana kršćanska kalvinska Crkva u Hrvatskoj) is a church community that has existed and served in the Republic of Croatia and its predecessor states for half a millennium without interruption. The continuity of its existence is clearly visible in the course of history under the jurisdiction of different states (the Kingdom of Hungary, the Habsburg Empire, the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy, the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, the Federal People's Republic of Yugoslavia, then the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, and finally the Republic of Croatia). Obviously, only a part of the former Reformed Church in Yugoslavia is located in the territory of the present-day Republic of Croatia, therefore when the independent Croatian state was established, the Reformed Christian Church in Yugoslavia fraternally dismissed the former members and parts of the Church living in the Republic of Croatia, which than became the independent Reformed Christian Calvinist Church in Croatia (Reformirana kršćanska kalvinska Crkva u Hrvatskoj).
The Reformed Churches in the Carpathian Basin recognise the continuity of the existence and functioning of our sister church, the Reformed Christian Calvinist Church in Croatia (Reformirana kršćanska kalvinska Crkva u Hrvatskoj), since the former diocese of the Reformed Christian Church in Yugoslavia became an independent church in Croatia, and has continued and continues still today to serve under the leadership of Bishops Endre Lángh (1993-2011), Lajos Csáti Szabó (2011-2017) and Péter Szenn (2017- to this day).
Consequently, in the territory of the Republic of Croatia we exclusively recognize the Reformed Christian Calvinist Church in Croatia (Reformirana kršćanska kalvinska Crkva u Hrvatskoj) as the only legal Reformed Church body in the Republic of Croatia. The church’s legitimacy in terms of historical continuity can be confirmed by the sister churches on the basis of church documents and credentials, and based on the apostolic succession. No other religious organization that calls itself Reformed can have ecclesiastical (canonical) legitimacy and claim to possess historical continuity.
I issue this statement for our sister church, the Reformed Christian Calvinist Church in Croatia (Reformirana kršćanska kalvinska Crkva u Hrvatskoj), which has been the victim of a misunderstanding in the ongoing legal proceedings. We strongly trust that the lawfulness will be restored.
Zoltán Balog, Acting President of the General Convent
This is not the first time that the General Convent, on behalf the Hungarian Reformed community, issued a statement about the painful division of the reformed Church in Croatia. The World Communion of Reformed Churches representing the worldwide fellowship of around 100 Million Reformed Christians also issued a confirmation in 2015 about the Reformed Christian Calvinist Church in Croatia being the only legitimate member of the organisation in the country.