Hungarian government: President Macron’s meddling in the papal election unacceptable
“We are living in decisive and historic times in Romania, in Szatmár, in the Partium region and Transylvania, but also in the Vatican and at the Holy See,” the state secretary for religious affairs at the Prime Minister’s Office said on Saturday in Urziceni (Csanálos), in Romania.
Speaking at the holy liturgy held on the occasion of the 300th anniversary of the existence of the local Roman Catholic parish, Miklós Soltész, referring to the first round of the Romanian presidential election to be held on Sunday, said that if those present did what the Hungarian political leaders here were asking for tomorrow, then “the fate and life of the Hungarian nation in the Partium will certainly be able to continue on the path that has been so needed in recent years and from which we have been able to draw so much strength”.
Regarding the upcoming papal election in the Vatican, Soltész said it was “outrageous and disheartening” that, according to press reports, French President Emmanuel Macron had tried to influence his country’s cardinals electing the pope, adding that the power of prayer “is much greater and this must be proven”.
According to Eduard Habsburg-Lothringen, Hungary’s current ambassador to the Holy See, press reports about Macron’s meddling in the papal conclave are fake news, and Hungarian Cardinal Péter Erdő was not involved in any way in the issue.
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Soltész also noted that in addition to the event in Urziceni, another important celebration is taking place on Saturday in Budapest in Saint Stephen’s Basilica, where the 50th anniversary of the death of Cardinal-Prince Primate József Mindszenty is being commemorated.
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