Lajos Ordass

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Lajos Ordass (born February 6, 1901 in Torzsa (German: Toschau; today part of the city of Vrbas , Serbia ) as Lajos Wolf ; † August 14, 1978 in Budapest ) was a Hungarian Evangelical Lutheran bishop and vice president of the Lutheran World Federation .

Life

Memorial plaque at 23 Márvány utca , Budapest 12th district

Ordass was born into a German-speaking family in the Batschka in the former Bács-Bodrog county . He studied Protestant theology in Budapest, Sopron and Halle . He was ordained in 1924 and worked as an assistant pastor in various parishes. In 1927/28 he spent two semesters at the universities of Lund and Uppsala , where he was strongly influenced by Gustaf Aulén , Anders Nygren and Nathan Söderblom . Between 1931 and 1941 he was parish priest in Cegléd , then until 1945 in the Kelenfölder Evangelical parish in Budapest. Although he had initially hoped for the return of the territories separated from Hungary in the Treaty of Trianon during World War II , he soon developed into an opponent of National Socialism , advocating the German Confessing Church and the Norwegian church struggle led by Bishop Eivind Berggrav . He campaigned for the rescue of the Hungarian Jews and in 1944 changed his German birth name Wolf to the Hungarian Ordass . During the siege of Budapest in 1945 he translated plays by Kaj Munk , which were published after his death.

After the resignation of Sándor Raffay in the summer of 1945 Ordass was elected bishop of the mountain district ( Bányai Egyházkerület ). He did not want the church to confront the new communist rulers, but opposed the deportations of Germans from Hungary. In 1947 he took part in the founding assembly of the Lutheran World Federation in Lund and was elected one of the vice-presidents. In 1948 he resisted the nationalization of church schools and was arrested on false charges and brought to justice. He was sentenced to two years in prison and another five years from office. He served his sentence in Budapest, Szeged and Vác . He was released in 1950 and lived in extensive isolation. On October 5, 1956, during the Hungarian People's Uprising , he was rehabilitated by the state and on October 31, after the resignation of Bishop László Dezséry, he was able to resume his office as bishop. After the suppression of the revolution, he was initially able to retain his office. In 1957 he led his church's delegation to the 3rd General Assembly of the Lutheran World Federation in Minneapolis and was re-elected Vice President. After their return, however, there were new conflicts with the Kádár government , which intervened in the church's personnel policy. In June 1958 Ordass was again deposed and lived in seclusion until his death. Of his 33 years as bishop, he was only able to actually exercise his office for five years.

Ordass was awarded an honorary doctorate in 1973 by the University of Iceland for the translation of works by the poet Hallgrímur Pétursson into Hungarian . On April 30, 1990, Kálmán Kulcsár , Minister of Justice in the government under József Antall , officially apologized to the descendants of Lajos Ordass.

Fonts (selection)

  • At the foot of the cross. Lenten Meditations by an Imprisoned Pastor behind the Iron Curtain . Augsburg, Minneapolis 1958.
  • I cannot pray (anonymously). Schriftenmissionsverlag, Gladbeck 1968.
  • Válogatott irások (Selected Writings, edited by István Szépfalusi). Az Európai Protestáns Magyar Szabadegyetem, Bern 1982.
  • Önéletrajzi írások (Autobiographical Writings, edited by István Szépfalusi). Az Európai Protestáns Magyar Szabadegyetem, Bern 1985 (supplement 1987).

literature

  • John V. Eibner: Lajos Ordass: Prophet, patriot or reactionary? . In: Religion in Communist Lands 11, 1983, pp. 178–187, biblicalstudies.org.uk (PDF; 346 kB).
  • László G. Terray: In royal freedom: Bishop Lajos Ordass; 1901-1978 . Martin Luther Verlag, Erlangen 1990, ISBN 3-87513-072-3 .
  • Tibor Fabiny Jr .: Bishop Lajos Ordass and the Hungarian Lutheran Church . In: Hungarian Studies , 10, 1995. pp. 65-98, epa.niif.hu (PDF; 6.5 MB).
  • Tibor Fabiny Jr .: The Testimony of Bishop Lajos Ordass During Communism in Hungary . In: Peter Maser , Jens Holger Schjørring (eds.): Between the millstones. Protestant Churches in the Establishment of Communist Rule in Eastern Europe . Martin Luther Verlag, Erlangen 2002, pp. 303-320.
  • Enikö Böröcz: Lajos Ordass: A Christian And A Consistent Adversary Of The Totalitarian Systems . In: Søren Dosenrode (Ed.): Christianity and Resistance in the 20th Century. From Kaj Munk and Dietrich Bonhoeffer to Desmond Tutu . Brill, Leiden 2008, pp. 203-232.

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Ordass, Lajos
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Wolf, Lajos
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Protestant Bishop in Hungary and Vice President of the Lutheran World Federation
DATE OF BIRTH February 6, 1901
PLACE OF BIRTH Torzsa, Vrbas , Serbia
DATE OF DEATH August 14, 1978
Place of death Budapest