torda

HUs and UUs - Alike or Different? Posts proceed by date, from bottom to top.

Monday, August 09, 2004

Why Torda?

Torda is another symbol of Hungarian Unitarianism.

Torda is the Transylvanian city in which the Diet (parliament), meeting January 6—13, 1568, issued their famous Edict of Tolerance. While not a law of total religious freedom, it guaranteed equal standing for the four "received" religions: Catholic, Lutheran, Reformed and Unitarian. Within those parameters it left the choice of clergy and theology to the local congregations, and the question of faith to the individual. At a time when the churches were burning dissidents at the stake and gearing up for the horrible Thirty Years War in the West (1618-1648), this was the most enlightened legislation in Europe.

It remains a proud moment in the Hungarian Unitarian heritage.