The ecumenical initiative to establish the Network of Christian Roma Colleges was launched ten years ago. As Bishop Tamás Fabiny pointed out in his opening speech, the agreement of the Roman Catholic, Greek Catholic, Reformed and Lutheran churches was an important step to counter exclusion and segregation.

In his sermon, Bishop Zoltán Balog mentioned that God’s Word is relevant in any situation of our lives. “The world today does not like confessional attitude or non-mainstream people. In the history of Christianity, being confessional has meant being committed to and standing up for one’s faith”, he said. “All this requires status and foundations, just as in the case of establishing and operating the Network of Christian Roma Colleges,” he added.

Bishop Balogh also reminded the audience to the fact that the activities have not been halted by the pandemic either. Online lessons have continued; book launches and memorial events have been organized. “Just as the community of alumni in the case of a school, our community also calls for solidarity, bonding and not losing sight of each other. Hungary as a country needs a strong Roma middle-class and we are convinced that the driving force behind all that can only be a large group dedicated to Christ. This is why it is important to stay together and to witness to what God has done to us over the past ten years and how he continues to accompany us day by day.”

The founders commemorated the beginnings with a short video footage which was also presented at the anniversary worship service. In the film, Metropolitan Kocsis said that the last ten years had shown how Roma and non-Roma youth could work, study, pray and play together.

Since 2011, the number of colleges incorporated in the Network has grown from four to eleven. Currently, eight of those colleges are maintained by the churches. Similarly, the number of students participating in the program has increased significantly and has reached 470 graduates by now.

https://www.evangelikus.hu/cikk/fontos-evfordulo-miatt-szolt-az-imadsag
https://haon.hu/kozelet/helyi-kozelet/fontos-evfordulo-miatt-szolt-az-imadsag-az-attila-teren-5184250/