Reformed Church, Suza
| Reformed Church | |
|---|---|
Reformatska crkva u Suzi Csúzai református templom | |
The church building | |
Reformed Church | |
| 45°46′53″N 18°46′29″E / 45.78139°N 18.77472°E | |
| Location | Maršala Tita 54, Suza[1], Kneževi Vinogradi |
| Country | Croatia |
| Language | Hungarian language |
| Denomination | Disputed between Reformed Christian Calvinist Church in Croatia and Protestant Reformed Christian Church in Croatia |
| Architecture | |
| Functional status | active |
| Years built | 1806[2] |
The Reformed Church (Croatian: Reformatska crkva u Suzi, Hungarian: Csúzai református templom) in Suza is a Reformed Christian Calvinist affiliated church serving primarily Hungarian community in the parish.[1] Parish doctrine is grounded in the Second Helvetic Confession and the Heidelberg Catechism.[1] Adherents of this tradition are often referred to as Calvinists, named after the prominent Geneva reformer John Calvin.[1]
History
At the turn of the 13th to 14th century, the first church on this site was built in the Gothic style.[3] In preserved written sources the church was mentioned for the first time in 1301.[2] The later Reformed church was constructed on its remains.[3]
The Reformed Church congregation in Suza was founded during the Reformation when the village population converted in 1544.[4][2] The teachings of the Reformation movement in Slavonia and Baranya spread through the preaching of Mihael Starin, who, over a period of six to seven years around 1544, established roughly 120 Hungarian and Croatian Protestant parishes.[4] There are no preserved written sources about the church during the period of the Ottoman Hungary.[2] The contemporary church was built in 1806.[2]
In the Reformed cemetery lies the pastor Gedeon Ács (1799-1887), who, as a participant in the Hungarian Revolution of 1848, accompanied its leader Lajos Kossuth into exile in Ottoman Empire and later to United States of America.[4] He returned home in 1861 and lived and served in Suza as a Reformed minister until his death.[4] The church building got its present appearance in 1869.[3]
In 1886, the parish counted 877 members, by 1915 the number was 785, and in 1971 it had decreased to 294 believers.[4] During the First World War, two of its three bells were taken away, and in the 1930s the villagers purchased new ones to replace them.[3]
After the end of United Nations Transitional Administration for Eastern Slavonia, Baranja and Western Sirmium mandate in 1998, the onion-shaped tower dome and the tower itself were restored, along with the church roof and exterior façades.[4] As of 2025 around 250 members of the Reformed faith live in the area, all of Hungarian nationality.[4]
See also
- Hungarian Reformed Communion
- Reformed Christian Church in Yugoslavia
- Reformed Church, Kotlina
- Reformed Church, Kneževi Vinogradi
- Reformed Church, Karanac
- Reformed Church, Kamenac
- Reformed Church, Vardarac
References
- ^ a b c d "Reformatska crkva u Suzi". Municipality of Kneževi Vinogradi. Retrieved 6 December 2025.
- ^ a b c d e "Obnavlja se i reformatska crkva u Suzi". Képes Újság. 22 April 2021. Retrieved 6 December 2025.
- ^ a b c d "U Suzi se ponovno čuje zvono". Radio Baranja. 17 August 2022. Retrieved 6 December 2025.
- ^ a b c d e f g "Reformatska crkvena općina Suza – kako je prije 11 godina izbrisana iz zemljišnih knjiga". Horizonti vjere. 10 February 2025. Retrieved 6 December 2025.