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.”
He said he would not apologise for having asked for clemency for someone he had believed to be innocent.
Balog began his speech with a prayer in which he asked God for forgiveness for not having been alert and cautious enough to see the dangers lurking over the country, the nation, the Reformed Church and the country’s president regarding the clemency case. He asked God to forgive him if the victims of child abuse had felt abandoned.
Under the laws of the Reformed Church in Hungary, Balog’s resignation will take effect with the decision by the next Synod.
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