The Presidium of the General Convent of the Hungarian Reformed Church views with deep concern the amendment to the Criminal Code adopted in the Slovak Republic, which makes the public questioning and criticism of the Beneš Decrees a criminal offense and threatens with imprisonment those who seek to speak out for historical truth.
We believe that speaking the truth does not endanger peace; rather, it is a prerequisite for reconciliation. The suppression of the past does not heal wounds, whereas honest confrontation—painful though it may be—can open a path toward mutual respect and trust.
The Reformed communities of the Carpathian Basin bear a particular responsibility to foster dialogue and reconciliation among the nations of the region. We ask the Lord of all creation to make our churches courageous witnesses to the truth and instruments of reconciliation, so that we may not remain silent out of fear, but speak out of love and responsibility.
We stand in prayer with our Hungarian brothers and sisters in Slovakia, mindful of the wounds of the years following the Second World War: the stigma of collective guilt, the deprivation of rights and confiscations of property suffered by Reformed communities and congregations there, the expulsion from their native land, and the unspoken pains that still live in many hearts to this day.
At the same time, the Presidium of the General Convent expresses its hope that in addressing these matters, fear and intimidation will not prevail in the future, but that an open, honest dialogue respectful of human dignity may begin—one that is directed toward the truth that brings healing for us all.
We also pray for those in positions of decision-making: may God grant them wisdom to serve the path of reconciliation, so that they do not seek to silence conscience through laws or stifle speech through punishment, but, guided by the Holy Spirit and respecting the human dignity of their citizens, dare to confront our past and our present for the sake of a shared future.
15 January 2026
Presidium of the General Convent
The Beneš Decrees
The Beneš Decrees (named after Edvard Beneš, president of Czechoslovakia after World War II) are a series of presidential decrees issued in 1945–1946 in post-war Czechoslovakia. They legalized the confiscation of property and disenfranchisement of ethnic Germans and Hungarians who were deemed collectively guilty of supporting Nazi Germany during World War II. Stripped many of their citizenship and civil rights, and in practice authorised the expulsion of large numbers of Germans and Hungarians from Czechoslovak territory after the war.
In December 2025, the Slovak National Council passed an amendment to the Criminal Code that was signed into law by Slovak President Peter Pellegrini. The amendment criminalises publicly questioning or denying the Beneš Decrees — making it a punishable offence under Slovak law. It reportedly carries penalties of up to six months in prison for anyone who publicly denies, questions, or disputes the post-war settlement legal framework to which the decrees belong. President Pellegrini signed this amendment instead of using his veto, stating that it should be clear that protecting one’s own property rights in court is not itself questioning the decrees.
Presidium of the General Convent
As the common representative body of the Reformed churches in the Carpathian Basin, the General Convent has an important role in the coordination of common issues and works to achieve unity through a harmonizing liturgy and Hymnbook, because of their cooperation in mission and diaconia. The General Convent consists of all the deans and lay presidents in office of the Reformed presbyteries within the Carpathian Basin, as well as bishops and chief elders in office of the church districts.
Its presidium meets every two months and is composed of the bishops and chief elders (lay presidents) of the ten church districts in office.