Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople visited Hungary

Deputy Prime Minister Zsolt Semjén and Bartholomew I, the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople, addressed an international ecumenical conference in Pannonhalma, in western Hungary, on Friday, and spoke about reconciliation and various forms of peace.

Whereas achieving conciliation is possible in politics as well, finding reconciliation is possible only in one’s spirit in which churches play an essential role and “we pay great attention to that process with respect to the churches”, Semjén said in his address.

Addressing the conference, the Bartholomew said finding peace with nature is intertwined with finding peace with one another. Social justice presupposes finding peace with God, he said. Peace, Bartholomew I said, was another word for the existence of the Christian church, adding that the orthodox church was praying for peace administered “from above”, for peace in the whole world.

The patriarch is paying a six-day visit to Hungary at the invitation of the Pannonhalma Archabbey. The focus of his visit is ecumenical and interreligious dialogue, as well as peace-building.

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