(Editio Calvin, Budapest 1999. Compiled and written by Ferenc Dusicza)
The Reformed Church is, in terms of numbers, the largest denomination in Hungary, after the Roman Catholic Church. The Calvinist trend of the Reformation in Hungary adopted two confessions at Debrecen in 1567: the Heidelberg Catechism, and the Second Helvetian Confession. The existence of the Reformed Church in Hungary dates from this Debrecen Synod of 1567. Among the Presbyterian churches it is the only one that has had, and still has, bishops in additions to general curators (lay presidents) at the head of Church Districts. At present the registered number of Reformed Hungarians world-wide is about three and a half million. Of these, some two million live in Hungary. In consequence of the dismemberment of Hungary after World War I, many congregations - even whole Church Districts in Transylvania - were separated from our Church and placed beyond the borders of this country. These believers continue to live in their old homes, but in alien linguistic and religious surroundings. In the United States there are some 70 Hungarian Reformed congregations in two separate church bodies. In addition to these, Hungarian Reformed believers live in considerable numbers in Canada, Western Europe, Australia, and Latin America. The Reformed Church in Hungary maintains close fraternal relations with our Hungarian coreligionists living abroad, whether in neighbouring countries or dispersed throughout the world, partly through the World Federation of Hungarian Reformed Believers, and partly within the framework of the Consultative Synod of the Hungarian Reformed Church. Reformed believers amount to about 21% of the Hungarian population of ten million. 1200 congregations live in four Church Districts and 27 seniorates. We have 1402 church buildings.