The last of a dying breed: Hungarian Calvinists in Romania – PART II

Magyarhang has gone to explore the furthest located Hungarian Calvinist communities in Europe, in Romania, more precisely in Galați, Braila, Ploiești and Constanța. Here, the number of Hungarians is in a steep decline, and only two Hungarians can be found at most funerals – the priest and the deceased. 

In the previous part, we have learnt that the Hungarian Calvinist population of South-Eastern Romania is rapidly declining, the number of church-goers is fewer each year. Hungarians are marrying Romanians, and, as a result, children born into such mixed marriages rarely learn Hungarian or are baptised into the Calvinist church.

However, there is another side to the story, that of the Romanians’: sometimes they become interested in the Calvinist teachings.

If there are but two Hungarians at most funerals, the priest and the deceased, it is inevitable that, from time to time, a Romanian Orthodox attending such religious rituals takes some interest. Around the time Magyarhang conducted this interview with pastor Endre, the priest had buried a naval engineer. Several Romanians attended the funeral, after which they asked Endre if there was a possibility for them to join the Reformed church.

“If I tell them that on every second Sunday, the sermon is in Romanian, too, they might even come”, says pastor Endre.

About the Romanian sermon

The sermon conducted in Romanian is the task of a curate, whose life, Magyarhang writes, ‘deserves to be made into a movie’: Androne Mihai studied philosophy in Iași, then acquired his PhD in Orthodox theology in Bucharest. He stumbled upon the Calvinist doctrine by chance, but it has made such an impact on him that during a Swiss scholarship, he converted to Reformed Protestantism.