Religious Groups: Hungarian Reformed

            When Transylvania was still a part of Hungary, it had stronger ties to the West, thus it was Roman Catholic prior to the Reformation in contrast to the predominantly Orthodox Romanian population. After the Reformation, in the 16^th century, the Hungarian speaking Reformed church was established in Romania.   Following theological disputes during the reformation era, the Hungarian Reformed church split from other Calvinist churches throughout Europe.  With that they established themselves as a separate entity.

In 1622, Bethlen Gabor, prince of Transylvania, founded the Reformed theological seminary in Cluj/Kolozvar, which is now the capital of Transylvania and the headquarters of the Hungarian Reformed Church.  In the 18^th century, the Reformed Church was incorporated into the Hapsburg Empire, a Catholic kingdom.   In the middle of the 19^th century, the Reformed Church participated in the revolution, in their fight for independence from the Hapsburgs and their religion.   When the communist regime came into power in the 20^th century, they brought with them strict regulations and harsh persecutions directed at the church.   During this time, the role of the Church was restricted to Sunday worship inside the church building and all outside interaction was made illegal.  Suffering under the regime was brought to an end in the Romanian Revolution of 1989, in which the Reformed Church played a significant role. 

Currently, the Hungarian Reformed church is still recovering and rebuilding its congregations.  According to a 2002 census 698,550 people (3.2% of Romania’s population) belonged to the Reformed church.   Despite the hardships the church has faced with changing political boundaries and governmental regimes, the Hungarian Reformed Church has been able to preserve its Hungarian nationalistic roots and integrity as a major religious group of Transylvania.  

Submitted by: Cailin, Stephanie, and Elizabeth W.