language, the Hungarian News Agency MTI reported Monday March 18. Education Minister Jozsef Palinkas told MTI in Budapest that the Gypsy Bible "has incorporated the international expressions that have become rooted in the common Gypsy language."
Initially only the New Testament will be distributed, but the Minister said that the Old Testament "would soon" follow. He added that the Gypsy Bible, which was sponsored by Hungary’s Education Ministry, will be published as a bilingual book, with the Lovari translation printed side-by-side the Hungarian text.
CATHOLIC INVOLVEMENT
The work of Gypsy translator Zoltan Vesho-Farkas was edited by Bela Tarjanyi, professor at the New Testament department of the Pazmany Peter Catholic University’s Theology Faculty. MTI qouted Tarjanyi as saying that the Gypsy Bible was initially issued in 100 copies. In all, 5,000 copies are to be printed, of which 3,000 will be purchased by the Hungarian Catholic Bishops’ Bench.
The publication of the special Bible is seen as an effort to reach out to Hungary’s Gypsy community which has suffered under poverty and discrimination. Earlier this month the United States State Department criticized Hungary for police brutality and other harsh treatment of Gypsies, who prefer to be known as the Roma.
BIGGEST VICTIMS
Hungary’s former President Arpad Goncz told BosNewsLife that he believes the Roma "are the biggest victims of Hungary’s transition," from Communism towards democracy. Hungarian Foreign Minister Janos Martonyi said that Hungary wanted to tackle social injustice by improving education. "Education is the key," Martonyi said in an interview with BosNewsLife. "But this is not something you can change overnight," he added.
However the minister believes that "the situation has improved," in the last few years. "If you look to education, the number of Roma students that received scholarships is now 10-thousand while a few years ago it was only 800," Martonyi said.
There are an estimated 800,000 Roma people living in Hungary, although some analysts say the number could be much higher. The European Union has made the respect of religious, cultural, and education rights of the Roma and other minorities an important condition for Hungary to join the organization perhaps as early as 2004.
