After Szalasi's reign of terror had begun, Bishop Ravasz intervened in the name of the Protestant Churches. He demanded the fulfilment of five points. Three of them were in connection with the Jews:
… c. Humane methods in the treatment of Jews. Revocation of the order which, in cases of mixed marriages, empowered the non-Jewish party to obtain a divorce, and declared as Jewish the party that failed to comply with this regulation. d. The cessation of the deportations. e. Security for the lives of the Jews.
On November 24, 1944, the Deputy Prime Minister replied in the name of the
Government. He informed then that Szalasi had succeeded in obtaining the
Fuehrer's permission to grant the following points:
"No alteration to be made in the legal status of mixed marriages, the Jews to be separated from the rest of the population of Budapest, and the labour service companies to be directed towards the German frontier, because it was to be feared that they might commit atrocities in the case of a Russian occupation. When carrying out these measures, however, the principle of humanity would be respected." [453] <205> On November 26, 1944, Bishop Ravasz again wrote to the Roman Catholic Primate proposing united action. "The Primate, tired and very ill, replied that he had already intervened with Szalasi and that he did not feel like repeating the intervention in the company of others." [454]
On Dec. 1, 1944, the Bishops of the Reformed and Lutheran Churches presented a note to the so-called "Leader of the Nation".
"It follows from the prophetic office of Christ's Church that the servant of the Church should always raise his voice when men's acts gravely violate God's laws", wrote Bishop Ravasz. The letter stressed, that "the treatment meted out mocks God's eternal laws which prescribe humane treatment even toward one's enemies, and brings down God's anger on the head of the nation. This treatment casts a dark blot on the name of the Magyar nation which, for a thousand years, had been known to the world for its generosity and chivalry." [455]
A pastoral letter issued in December, 1944, called on the pastors to pray at the services for "the scattered flock of Israel, the homeless and the persecuted." [456]
On May 9, 1946, the Hungarian Reformed Church declared that "in deep humility she confesses her guilt and offence against God's honour… She had not laboured in time to warn the people and the rulers, when they embarked on a course contrary to God's laws, and she had not strongly taken her stand on the side of the innocent persecuted human beings." [457] <206>