Reformed Bishop resigns after admitting he supported scandalous presidential pardon

Reformed Bishop Zoltán Balog resigned as president of the Synod of the Reformed Church in Hungary on Friday.

Balog announced his resignation at Friday’s meeting of the Synod in a speech published on reformatus.hu.

The bishop said he was resigning for the sake of the church.

Balog said he had made a “grave political error”, but in a case of clemency. He said he had requested clemency for someone, “and if for that I must leave now, do not think that that will be a solution”.

He said there would still be a “fight” after his resignation, which he said should be fought using “spiritual weapons”.

Balog said he was “stepping back” because the unity of the church was more important to him “than to allow it to be torn apart”.

“But do not be afraid, and do not be under any illusion,” he said. “I will continue to fight. That is my task and what I swore to do.”