Anglicans Could Mediate Ethnic Strife in Hungary, According to Episcopal Observer
Episcopal News Service. November 29, 1990 [90310]
The Anglican Communion could play an important mediating role in Hungary's mounting ethnic crisis, according to the Rev. Robert Brooks, staff officer of the Washington Office of the Episcopal Church.
Brooks recently visited Hungary at the invitation of the Hungarian government to advise it on its efforts toward democratization. "Several Hungarians described the religious and ethnic tension in their society as 'a gunpowder keg ready to explode,'" Brooks reported.
"They have sought our [the Episcopal Church's] help because we're not party to the traditional religious conflict there," Brooks said.
Brooks said that he believes the isolation of the past 40 years in Eastern Europe contributed to current anxieties. "Hungary was totally shut out of developments in scriptural scholarship and Jewish-Christian dialogue for 45 years. Anti-Semitism is a problem again because many people are returning to where they were in 1945," he said.
"Clergy are not equipped to deal with diversity in civil society or to deal with the job of teaching religion," Brooks continued. "They told me, 'We need theologians and teachers to catch us up."'
Brooks suggested that Hungarian ministers invite Anglican seminary professors to Hungary or travel to participate in "intensive continuing education programs. As Anglicans we have an opportunity to offer an understanding of historical perspective, and they are pleading with us to help."