“Italy and its government have the exclusive right to pass rules concerning marriage, adoption, and any other issue around family law,” Bálazs Hidvéghi, MEP of Hungary’s ruling Fidesz, said in a European Parliamentary debate on the subject of surrogate motherhood on Wednesday.
Adopting regulations concerning those areas is a national competency, he added. He also said, however, that such rules should be designed “with regard to higher moral considerations”.
“Our European culture is based on Christianity and Christian values that involve certain moral obligations and restrictions to human actions,” the politician from Fidesz said.
“We must not build a world in which the fundamental laws of nature and life are disregarded; we must not materialise people and allow children to become goods that could be purchased for money,” he said.
“We should accept that life and birth are sacred and man is not a master over life and death,” Hidvéghi added.
Constantinople Patriarch Bartholomew I will pay a five-day visit to Hungary in September, at the invitation of the Pannonhalma Archabbey, the abbey said on Wednesday.
The patriarch’s visit will focus on ecumenical and inter-church dialogue as well as peace, the abbey said in a statement.
He will address as a keynote speaker the international ecumenical conference on peace in Pannonhalma, in north-western Hungary, on 22 September.
Bartholomew I will in Budapest meet politicians and representatives of public life and give a talk at ecumenical and inter-church conference hosted by Pázmány Péter University and the University of Public Service.
The patriarch visited Hungary last time in 2021 when he attended the International Eucharistic Congress.
Miklós Soltész, the state secretary for church and minority relations, spoke at the inauguration of a Reformed church built with the support of the Hungarian government in Gabcikovo (Bős), Slovakia, on Sunday.
Soltész called the construction of the church an “example of the power of cooperation”. Róbert Géresi, a bishop of the Slovakian Reformed Christian Church, said the inauguration was a day of joy for the whole church, noting that members of the local congregation had worshipped in a home until now.
Krisztián Forró, the leader of the Hungarian Alliance (Szövetség) party, said the church would serve as “a new bastion” of the Hungarian community in Slovakia. The Hungarian government supported the construction of the church with 90 million forints (EUR 244,000).
Bad news came out about Poland and Hungary’s antisemite sentiments. According to a recent survey of ten European countries, more than a third of the population in Hungary and Poland hold explicitly anti-Jewish views.
According to a survey by the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) in ten European countries, a significant percentage of the population agrees with certain anti-Semitic views and stereotypes, The Jerusalem Post reports. The ADL poll ran from November last year to January this year. It covered Belgium, the UK, France, the Netherlands, Poland, Hungary, Germany, Russia, Spain and Ukraine, rtl.hu writes.
The questions that helped determine the populations’ antisemitism
The questions covered eleven commonly held anti-Jewish views, such as the following:
Jews have too much power in business.
Jews are the cause of most wars in the world.
Jews are more loyal to Israel than to their homeland.
Respondents were asked to indicate their level of agreement with statements such as the above. If someone agreed to some extent with at least six of the 11 statements, they were classified as holding antisemitic views.
According to the survey, 37 percent of the population in Hungary hold anti-Semitic views.
What about the rest of the countries examined?
This figure is 35 percent in Poland, 29 percent in Ukraine, 26 percent in Russia and Spain. It is 24 percent in Belgium, 17 percent in France, 12 percent in Germany and 10 percent in the UK. According to the ADL, the Netherlands has the lowest level of antisemitism at just 8 percent.
The survey data show that while the proportion of people who hold antisemitic views is relatively high in Poland and Ukraine, around one third, the situation has improved since the last survey in 2019. Antisemitism fell from 48 to 35 percent in Poland and from 46 to 29 percent in Ukraine. In Hungary, antisemitism has fallen by a smaller amount, from 42 to 37 percent. Thus, the five-percent drop has seen Hungary jump to the top.
The Patriarch of Moscow awarded the First Degree of the Order of Glory and Honour to Viktor Orbán. Kirill said that thanks to the Prime Minister, Hungary is making steady progress. The Patriarch stressed that Viktor Orbán pays great attention to Christian values.
Patriarch Kirill has written a letter to PM Viktor Orbán on the occasion of his 60th birthday, Index reports. According to the Moscow Patriarch, Orbán has dedicated his entire life to Hungary and has achieved countless successes in a “not easy career”.
“It is largely thanks to your persistent efforts that Hungary is making steady and uninterrupted progress on the path of social and economic development, and is implementing an independent foreign and domestic policy. It is a good feeling to see that you pay great attention to the preservation of Christian values in society and to the strengthening of the institution of family and marriage,”
Patriarch Kirill wrote. He also expressed his gratitude to Viktor Orbán for his support to the Russian Orthodox Church’s diocese in Budapest and Hungary.
“With the participation of the Hungarian government, churches are being renovated and significant projects are being implemented, which serve the spiritual enlightenment of the people, while at the same time promoting the development of friendly relations between our peoples,” the Patriarch added.
“Taking into account your outstanding contribution to the strengthening of traditional moral values in the life of European society, and in view of your personal and significant feast day, I feel it is just and worthy that you should be awarded the First Degree of the Order of Glory and Honour,” Kirill wrote, explaining the Prime Minister’s award.
From all the speeches given by Pope Francis during his visit to Hungary, “it could be felt that he paid attention to our problems and our situation”, Cardinal Péter Erdő, the Archbishop of Esztergom-Budapest, said on Monday at a lecture in Budapest, adding that Hungarians “got the encouragement we need” from the pontiff.
“Pope Francis came for a pastoral visit, and he spoke to us keeping in mind the peculiarities of Hungarian history and paying attention to our pastoral needs,” Erdő said.
The cardinal said that Pope Francis likes to visit small nations, and although Hungary is in the middle of Europe, “our history shows that we have always been a borderland between East and West or even North and South”. This involved a lot of suffering, but also many lessons and many opportunities over time, he added.
Erdő said he believes Pope Francis was much less strict than usual during his meeting with priests and bishops in St. Stephen’s Basilica, owing to Hungary’s history.
As we wrote a few weeks ago, Pope Francis talks about a secretive peace mission in Ukraine after his visit to Hungary, details HERE.
One of the biggest events of the Hungarian nation, the Csíksomlyó pilgrimage, was held over the weekend, and President of Hungary Katalin Novák was also among the attendees. The President is rather active on Facebook, and it seems that the Romanian Foreign Ministry is also watching her posts with a wary eye.
Katalin Novák’s followers were able to keep track of the main stops of her trip to Szeklerland. She also bowed her head at the tomb of the “greatest Szekler”, Balázs Orbán. On the Szék road from the Márton Áron College High School in Csíkszereda (Miercurea Ciuc) to Csíksomlyó (Șumuleu), Katalin Novák joined hundreds of thousands of other pilgrims on their journey to the Csíksomlyó Church of the Holy Cross, which then headed to the mountain range between Kis and Nagysomlyó, where they all attended the traditional mass of the farewell.
Photo: MTI
Photo: MTI
Photo: MTI
The Romanian Foreign Ministry, however, did not seem to be particularly pleased about the visit. Even though President Novák was on a private trip, they believed that she had conveyed inappropriate messages to the public, for instance, in regard of a historical region of Romania.
According to the Agerpres news agency, the Romanian Foreign Ministry has also contacted Hungary’s ambassador in Bucharest discussing the matter. In a statement, they expressed that they objected to the posts published on the Facebook page of Katalin Novák. Furthermore, they pointed out that the Romanian side has repeatedly warned Hungarian officials visiting Romania to exercise restraint, but this time they failed to do so.
The Romanian government believes that the problematic statements run counter to the common desire of promoting an amicable neighbourly rapport and maintaining cooperation between the two countries, which is sanctioned by the treaty signed in Timisoara (Temesvár) in 1996 and in another agreement signed on the strategic partnership between the two countries, Agerpres reported.
Bucharest apparently has an issue with the summary video, which shows all sorts of pictures and details of the farewell ceremony, with the Szekler anthem playing in the background.
The Szekler anthem has been the source of several conflicts in Romania over the years. What adds to the issue is that Katalin Novák gave the following title to the video she posted:
“Don’t let Transylvania be lost, our God” (“Ne hagyd elveszni Erdélyt, Istenünk”).
This must have been the “inappropriate” message concerning a historic region that the Romanian Foreign Ministry cited and objected to.
In 2022, the Hungaricum Committee decided to include the Szekler anthem in the Hungarian Heritage List, making it a national treasure.
Pope Francis has sent a letter of thanks to President of the Hungarian Catholic Bishops’ Conference (HCBC) András Veres for his Hungary visit in late April.
The letter made available by the HCBC press department on Wednesday shows that the pope thanked the love he said he had experienced during his stay and all the efforts that made his visit possible.
He expressed hope that the hard work coupled with pastoral services will “bring fruit abundantly”.
He asked Veres to preserve peace and unity and expressed hope that their efforts will contribute to everyone’s growth in their faith in Jesus Christ, and the joy of belonging to the church.
The delegation of the Hungarian Federation of Churches (MEÖT) concluded a four-day visit to Palestine, which was coordinated by the Higher Presidential Committee to follow up the affairs of churches in Palestine and in cooperation with the Embassy of the State of Palestine in Hungary. The visit included many meetings with national and religious leaders and field visits.
MEÖT delegation was received by the Prime Minister Dr. Mohammad Shtayyeh. On behalf of Dr. Ramzi Khoury, member of the Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization and Chairman of the Higher Presidential Committee for the Follow-up of Church Affairs in Palestine, MEÖT delegation met with the members of the Presidential Committee, Dr. Varsin Aghabekian and Musa Hadid, in addition to Mr. Raed Hanania. MEÖT delegation met as well with His H.E. Patriarch Theophilus, the President of the Council of Churches of the Holy Land, Patriarch of the Holy City of the Greek Orthodox Kyrios Kyrios Theophilos III, the Patriarchal Vicar of the Greek Orthodox Church, Metropolitan Vindicttus, the Patriarch of the Church of Saint Catherine of the Latins, Father Rami Askarieh, and the Syriac Orthodox Archbishop, Mar Antimos Jack Yacoub, Archbishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church, Sani Azar, the Patriarchal Vicar in Jerusalem and Palestine for Latin Bishop William Shomali, the Deputy of the Custody of the Holy Land, Father Ibrahim Faltas, the President and Director of Dar Al-Kalima University, Rev. Dr. Mitri Al-Raheb, the former Bishop of the Lutheran Church, Munib Younan, Bishop Afram Al-Suryan, and Bishop Ibrahim Azar Dr. Jad Isaac, Director of the ARIJ Center, Father George in the Cremisan Monastery, and Professor Gabriel Hanna, Director of Media at Bethlehem Bible College.
A meeting was also held with the Mayor of Bethlehem, Mr. Hanna Hanania, Mayor of Beit Sahour Hani Al-Hayek, Deputy Custos of the Holy Land, Dr. Jack Sarah, Reverend Dr. Munther Ishaq, Head of the Joint List, Member of the Arab Knesset Ayman Odeh, and Honorary Consul of Hungary in Palestine Nassar Khamis. MEÖT delegation started the visit by meeting with members of the Presidential Committee, Dr. Kholoud Daibes, Jihad Khair, and the Director of Public Relations and Media, Raed Hanania.
In addition to the meetings, the visit of the MEÖT delegation included a field tour that included the cities of Jerusalem, Bethlehem, and Ramallah, which included visits to the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, the Church of the Nativity, the Latin Church of Santa Catherine, St Jerome’s Cave beneath the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem came the most enduring version of the Bible ever translated, House of the Magi, Bethlehem where the delegation learned about the historical stages that Bethlehem went through, in addition to the process of rebuilding the Church of the Nativity throughout history. Accompanied by Father George, MEÖT delegation visited Cremisan Monastery and was briefed on the services provided by the monastery since 1885 until today, and the occupation confiscation warrants to extend the separation (apartheid) wall.
The tour included a visit to Bethlehem Bible College, the Areej Institute, Dar Al-Kalima University, a visit to the tomb and museum of Yasser Arafat, the siege area, and another tour around the Palestinian camps and the apartheid wall, where the delegation was able to learn about the political and field conditions, including Israeli settler attacks and incursions into sanctities that did not differentiate between Christians or Muslims, whether in Jerusalem, Bethlehem or the other Palestinian cities. What matters is targeting the Palestinian presence in the holy land, regardless of its religious background. The delegation had the opportunity to learn about the continuous attempts of the Israeli occupation to control properties belonging to churches in several areas, and about the Israeli policies and laws at the aim of imposing illegal taxes on churches. Such policies were categorically rejected by all the patriarchs and heads of churches in Jerusalem as they directly lead to imposing hard conditions on Christian presence in Palestine and enforce many to leave the holy land due to such Israeli measures. The delegation had the chance as well to learn more about illegal settlement expansions, particularly in Bethlehem, some of which belong to churches.
The delegation was also briefed on the role of the Presidential Committee to establish the Christian presence in Palestine, especially in the face of the Israeli measures and policies that caused a significant decline in their numbers, such as the confiscation of the lands of Christian families in favor of the apartheid wall, permit policy that deprives thousands of access to the city of Jerusalem, in addition to the “reunification” procedure, which prohibits non-Palestinian husband or wife from entering or residing in Palestine. The reunification policy, implemented by the Israeli occupation, has prompted thousands to leave Palestine, the holy land, in search of another country where they can have this basic law for any family: unity.
Following the visit, the delegation thanked the Higher Presidential Committee for the Follow-up of Church Affairs for the good reception, the successful organization of this visit. The delegation was led by Lutheran bishop Péter Kondor and councilor András Gér. Baptist church president János Papp, Methodist superintendent Khaled A. László, Romanian Orthodox deacon Marius Magyar and MEÖT general secretary Vilmos Fischl were also members of the delegation.
Also read our interview with Palestinian Ambassador Dr Elhusseini on Israel, Hungarian-Palestinian relations and many others, details HERE.
Mazsihisz, the Federation of Hungarian Jewish Communities, elected on Sunday professor Andor Grósz its new president, the federation said on its website.
Grósz was elected with 70 votes out of 107 to serve as Mazsihisz’s president over the next four years, replacing András Heisler whose mandate has expired, it said. The new president said he wants to work in an environment where there is peace and calm without which progress was impossible to make.
He thanked all those who voted for him. Grósz served before as the head of the board of Holocaust Documentation Center and Memorial Collection Public Foundation in Budapest, MTI wrote. Grósz was János Lázár’s principal advisor after 2014, when Lázár served as the Minister of the Prime Minister’s Office, index.hu wrote.
“I want peace and tranquility”, the new president said:
Hungary’s government works each day for a Christian Europe, Justice Minister Judit Varga told a conference on the lessons of the history of the European Union on Monday.
In her speech at the event organised by the National University of Public Service (NKE), Varga referred to the words of Robert Schuman, one of the “founding fathers” of the EU, who said that “Europe will be Christian or it will not be at all.”
Hungary’s government stands by conservative values because things that prove successful after being tried in Hungary could also be successful “on a large scale in Europe”, the minister said.
Varga said respect for unity and diversity was a guiding principle in her daily EU-related work.
Meanwhile, she noted that the European parliamentary elections next spring will be followed by Hungary’s presidency of the Council of the EU in the second half of the year. Because Hungary only gets to hold the rotating presidency every 13.5 years, it must make use of the opportunity and demonstrate its aptitude and creativity, she said.
Varga said Hungary’s task during its presidency would be to present a “liveable alternative”.
She emphasised that Hungary had joined an EU in which the culture of consensus had been considered the most important fundamental principle of the treaties. The government believes that member states cannot always give up their independence, and have the right to implement many EU policies through their own means, the minister said.
NKE rector Gergely Deli noted that 9 May marked the celebration of European peace and unity, as well as the anniversary of the historic Schuman declaration which led to the establishment of the EU.
Schuman envisioned a form of cooperation among European countries which made wars avoidable, he said, adding that the fighting in Ukraine meant that the importance of peace was felt up close in Hungary.
Tibor Navracsics, the minister for regional development, spoke about the enlargement of the EU and said “we cannot afford to prevent the Balkans or, in a given situation, the post-Soviet region from joining the EU”. He insisted the EU could survive as long as it can fulfill its “peace project, which includes enlargement”.
The community must allow Serbia, Montenegro, and Albania to join and give those countries a perspective, Navracsics said. He also added that the accession of those countries would “essentially change” the operations of the EU, adding that the idea of a “multi-speed Europe” would be “no disaster” as long as there was an opportunity for members “to change gear”.
Referring to the UK quitting the EU, Navracsics said Brexit was “proof that now you cannot be better off if you leave the EU”.
Concerning the “sharp debates within the EU, with the Hungarian government and the European Commission involved”, Navracsics said they were triggered because “a new political system is evolving … but it is not supported by a political community”. “There is no uniform, European demos … which could lend legitimacy, strength, visibility to the European institutions,” he insisted.
The Vatican is taking part in a peace mission to Ukraine to end the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, Pope Francis said in an interview on Sunday evening on a papal plane en route to Rome after a three-day visit to Hungary.
Peace mission in Ukraine
“I am ready to do whatever is necessary. A mission is underway, but it is not yet public. When it is, I will reveal it,” the Catholic Church leader said, without giving further details of those efforts.
“I believe that peace can only be made by opening channels. Peace can never be achieved through isolation,” the Pope said.
He said he had discussed the situation in Ukraine with Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and Metropolitan Hilarion, the governor of the Russian Orthodox Church’s Budapest-Hungary diocese.
“At the meetings we did not just talk about Red Riding Hood and the wolf. We discussed all these things. Everyone is interested in the path to peace,”
Pope Francis stressed.
Kiev and Moscow
Since the beginning of the Russian aggression in Ukraine last February, Vatican has called for peace on an almost weekly basis and has repeatedly expressed his willingness to act as a mediator between Kiev and Moscow.
Ukrainian Prime Minister Denis Shmihal discussed peace efforts, the humanitarian situation and the churches in Ukraine with Pope Francis at the Vatican on Thursday. Smihal also invited the Catholic Church leader to visit the Ukrainian capital.
Pope Francis, 86, has already spoken of visiting Kiev and Moscow as part of a peace mission.
Read all the news about the Pope’s visit to Hungary here.
The Ambassador of Malaysia, H.E. Francisco Munis, hosted Hari Raya Celebration 2023 for Malaysians living in Hungary and also Friends of Malaysia. The magnificent event took place at the Malaysian Embassy’s garden in Budapest yesterday. The number of partakers were approximately 200, and the Ambassador delivered a speech for the special event.
Hari Raya Aidilfitri is celebrated by Malaysian Muslims every year after Ramadan, the fasting month. Celebrated as a two-day nationwide holiday, Hari Raya Aidilfitriis a celebration of victory in completing the fast and overcoming personal struggles during the month of Ramadan, as well as a time of forgiveness and strengthening of bonds amongst family members and relatives.
Uniquely, the Hari Raya Aidilfitri is also celebrated by all Malaysians regardless of their backgrounds, as can be seen from the participations of Malaysians from all walks of life during the event held at the Embassy. In the spirit of Malaysia’s multi-cultural identity, cultural and religious festivities are embraced by Malaysians as a whole and celebrated nationwide. In Malaysia, Malaysians will pay visits to their friends during festivities such as the Hari Raya Aidilfitri, Chinese New Year, Harvest Festivals of Kaamatan and Gawai, Christmas, Deepavali and so on. Such is the unity and harmony shown by Malaysians in line with the concept of the Malaysian Madani promoted by Malaysia.
HERE you can read our interview with the Malaysian ambassador in Budapest, H.E. Francisco Munis.
Below you may check out some photos of the event (photo credit: Alpár Kató, the editor-in-chied of the Daily News Hungary):
Celebrating mass on Sunday morning in Budapest, Pope Francis asked participants to “be open doors” and appealed to world leaders “to build peace and to give the younger generations a future of hope, not war, a future full of cradles not tombs”.
In his homily delivered in Kossuth Square in front of Parliament, the pope said “Let us try to be – in our words, deeds and daily activities – like Jesus, an open door: a door that is never shut in anyone’s face, a door that enables everyone to enter and experience the beauty of the Lord’s love and forgiveness”. “Let the Lord of life enter our hearts, with his words of consolation and healing, so that we can then go forth as open doors within society. Be open and inclusive, then, and in this way, help Hungary to grow in fraternity, which is the path of peace,” said the pontiff.
The arrival of the pontiff:
He said that “this morning, in this place, we sense the joy of our being God’s holy people. All of us were born of his call. He called us together, and so we are his people, his flock, his Church”. Noting that “we are diverse and come from different communities”, the pontiff said “it is good for us to be together: bishops and priests, religious and lay faithful”. “And it is beautiful to share this joy of ours with the ecumenical delegations, the leaders of the Jewish community, the representatives of civil institutions and the diplomatic corps. This is the meaning of catholicity: we Christians, all of us called by name by the Good Shepherd, are summoned to receive and spread his love, to make his fold inclusive and never to exclude others.”
The pope called Jesus “the door that leads us back into the world”. “He urges us to go forth to encounter our brothers and sisters. Let us never forget that all of us, without exception, are called to this; we are called to step out of our comfort zones and find the courage to reach out to all those peripheries that need the light of the Gospel.” He called it “sad and painful” to see “the closed doors of our selfishness with regard to others; the closed doors of our individualism amid a society of growing isolation; the closed doors of our indifference towards the underprivileged and those who suffer; the doors we close towards those who are foreign or unlike us, towards migrants or the poor. Closed doors also within our ecclesial communities: doors closed to other people, closed to the world, closed to those who are “irregular”, closed to those who long for God’s forgiveness”. “Please, let us open those doors! Let us try to be – in our words, deeds and daily activities – like Jesus, an open door: a door that is never shut in anyone’s face, a door that enables everyone to enter and experience the beauty of the Lord’s love and forgiveness”.
“Be open and inclusive, then, and in this way, help Hungary to grow in fraternity, which is the path of peace,” said Pope Francis. Cardinal Péter Erdő, the Archbishop of Esztergom-Budapest, led the Liturgy of the Eucharist at the mass. Closing the ceremony, Erdő thanked Pope Francis for “coming to us, to people whose language is so different that it is difficult to find even a similar language all around the world”. To people who have insisted on western Christianity for a thousand years, he added. He thanked the pope for travelling to Hungary to visit the poor and refugees who had arrived from neighbouring Ukraine. “We thank you for visiting the poor, sick children and young people who represent the greatest challenge and the greatest opportunity to our church,” the cardinal said.
Erdő also said that people living along the Danube had learnt that the river was not only a border but it also “connects people if bridges are built”. He cited the example of King Saint Stephen, Hungary’s first king, who is today respected as a saint by the Catholic and the Orthodox churches because he was an advocate for Christ in a period when there was full unity between the churches of the East and West. Pope Francis, in his closing prayer appealed to world leaders asking them “to build peace and to give the younger generations a future of hope, not war, a future full of cradles not tombs”. He said he entrusted to patroness Magna Domina Hungarorum all Hungarians, and the faith and the future of the entire continent of Europe and the cause of peace.
The pontiff thanked all Hungarians for their warm welcome and affection paid to him during his entire visit. “With gratitude for these days, I keep you in my heart and I ask you to pray for me. Isten aldd meg a magyart! [God bless the Hungarians!],” he said. The mass was attended by President Katalin Novák, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and Parliamentary Speaker László Kövér, among others.
The Hungarian Evangelical Fellowship plans to file a lawsuit for compensation against the Hungarian state claiming that the fellowship had been unlawfully stripped of its eligibility for income tax donations between 2015 and 2020, the church’s leader said on Friday.
Gábor Iványi said in a statement that the fellowship wants the state to pay the amount lost as a result of a decision to withdraw its technical number (assigned by the tax authority to recognized churches) which had made them eligible for taxpayers’ donations. The money would have been used to help the fellowship carry out its service caring for 20,000 individuals in need and operate dozens of its institutions, the statement added.
Most recently, nearly 52,000 individuals donated 1 percent of their income tax to the church, making it the fifth largest recipient among Hungarian churches, Ivanyi said. He also said that starting from next week, the fellowship will collect declarations at several locations in Budapest from individuals who would have offered their tax donation to it between 2015 and 2020 if this had been possible.
Pope Francis arrives in Hungary on Friday for a three-day stay in Budapest. The visit will bring a number of changes to the Hungarian capital.
Pope visit
This is the fourth time since 1991 that the current Pope has visited Hungary. Pope John Paul II visited our country in August 1991 and September 1996. It will be Pope Francis ‘ second Budapest visit after September 2021.
Photo: MTI
Pope Francis will participate in ten private and public meetings and will give a total of six speeches.
The Catholic head of state’s plane will land at Budapest Liszt Ferenc International Airport on Friday at 10 AM.
Pope Francis will first head to Buda Castle, where he will be received by President of the Republic Katalin Novák on the main square in front of the Sándor Palace. Following his courtesy visit to the head of state, the head of the Church will meet with Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, and then with representatives of the state authorities, society and the diplomatic corps at the Carmelite Monastery.
On Friday afternoon, Pope Francis will meet with bishops, priests, deacons, monks, seminarians and pastoral staff at St Stephen’s Basilica.
On Saturday morning, Pope Francis will pay a private visit to the Blessed Batthyány-Strattmann László Home for Blind Children.
Pope Francis will bring encouragement, hope and a “message of peace” when he visits Hungary this weekend, President Katalin Novák said in an interview with German Catholic weekly Die Tagespost, which was published on Thursday.
It has been almost 30 years since the last pastoral visit by a pontiff to Hungary, Novák said, adding she believed that Hungary had “made a great impression” on Francis when he visited the country to celebrate the closing mass of the International Eucharistic Congress in 2021.
The president said the pope’s visit was an honour not just for Catholics but all Hungarians. “We have been living in the immediate shadow of war for over a year,” Novák said, adding that all nations hoped for a peaceful, stable and secure world. “This is the message we need.”
She continued that the pope could play a key role in bringing about peace talks in Ukraine. “He can speak directly to both parties involved in the conflict as well as their respective partners,” Novák explained. “He is the one who can build bridges and break through the walls.”
Novák revealed that Pope Francis had indicated his willingness to visit both Moscow and Kyiv, adding that she considered it wise of the pontiff to want to consult with both sides. Furthermore, she expressed her hopes that the visits would happen “as soon as possible”.
The president also encouraged people not to underestimate the power of prayer. “We are in God’s hands,” she exclaimed. “We Hungarians will pray here together with the Holy Father for peace.”
Meanwhile, Novák underscored the importance of cooperation between Hungary and the Holy See in standing up for traditional Christian values, the family, the protection of life and the protection of persecuted Christians.
Important information, traffic changes
There will be a number of restrictions and traffic changes in Hungary due to the Pope’s visit. You can see them in the gallery below.
Photo: MTI
Photo: MTI
Photo: MTI
Photo: MTI
The Pope will hold a mass on 30 April in Kossuth Square. You can find out more about the procession in the picture below. The gates will open at 6 AM, the opening programme kicks off at 7 AM and the Holy Mass begins at 9.30 AM.
The green area is reserved for the general public, the yellow indicates the altar area, while the red is the organisers’ area. The “B” dots indicate the entry points, while the white area is the area closed to traffic.
Photo: MTI
Glassware, glass goblets, metal bottles, thermos flasks, alcoholic beverages, bicycles, scooters and remote-controlled devices are prohibited on Kossuth Square and other events during the Papal Visit. Water may be brought in PET bottles up to half a litre. No pyrotechnic devices or any other objects, particularly dangerous for public safety, are allowed. The entry of live animals is also prohibited, with the exception of assistance and guide dogs as defined by law.
However, small folding pilgrim chairs, flagpoles, banners and signs may be brought into the event, but the length of the banners may not exceed one and a half metres, except in the pilgrimage areas of the Holy Mass in Kossuth Square.
During the Pope’s visit, an outdoor religious tourism exhibition will open in Liberty Square.
More than 70 thousand Hasidic Jewish pilgrims will visit a tiny Hungarian village, Bodrogkeresztúr near Tokaj this year alone. They are not only visiting the tomb of a miracle Rabbi but are planning to repopulate the village which once held a large Jewish population.
In 2023, more than 70,000 Hasidic Jewish pilgrims could visit the small village of Bodrogkeresztúr, according to the Keren Menachen Assembly, index.hu reports. The pilgrims pay their respect to Yeshaya Steiner, also known as Rabbi Shaya’la, who lived in Bodrogkeresztúr in the late 19th and early 20th century until his death in 1925.
He was considered a miracle Rabbi already during his lifetime, and his tomb become a popular pilgrimage site. Hasidic Jews believe that his former house which became a visitor centre and his tomb still have miraculous power.
But why did Bodrogkeresztúr become such a popular site for Jewish pilgrims now, almost 100 years after the Rabbi’s death? According to his grandson, Rabbi Rubin, with the change of regime in Hungary after 1989 and the more convenient and cheaper transportation methods the descendants of Hasidic Jewish families, who used to live in this area, have better access to visit the village.
“My father fled in 1950. Although he lived in Brooklyn, his heart remained in Bodrogkeresztúr,” Rabbi Rubin told 24.hu. “He was in constant contact with the last Jewish resident of the village, Frida Winkler, sending her money regularly to look after the graves in the Jewish cemetery. As a child, I remember sitting around our father reading letters from home about who had married and where children had been born. We would even find out when the Bodrog was flowing and what the water level was.”
Rabbi Rubin visited Bodrogkeresztúr for the first time in 1982 and purchased the house of his family back around 2010, which now operates as a visiting centre. Despite not wanting to profit from religious tourism, due to the high number of pilgrims they had to build a guesthouse and provide kosher food for the visitors.
“Hungarian Jews always had a sense of homesickness and nostalgia. Many people came to my father and later to me every year with letters, with prayers written on paper, to bring them to the tomb. The first generations could not come in person because they had to build their own lives and the conditions of Jewish life from scratch in their new homeland. Educational institutions, synagogues, community and ritual spaces, everything with their own two hands. So, the first generation didn’t have money to travel, but they didn’t want to lose touch with Hungary, so my father became the link. The second and third generation’s life is easier, and travel has become cheaper” – explained the Rabbi.
Repopulating ancestral lands
According to 24.hu’s report, one of the concerns of the locals with the Jewish pilgrims is that they are driving up real estate prices as they are not only looking for places for guesthouses but they might try to re-establish the local Jewish communities. Rabbi Rubin thinks that the pilgrimage is just the first step, and many Jews will return to their ancestral land.
“It will be like going back to the past, going back to the days before the Holocaust when there were many Jews living in the villages in the area. I think I’m too old to see that, but my sons will be here soon to take my place” – said Rabbi Rubin.
Debrecen International Airport welcomed a record number of flights on 24 April.
Due to the recent religious holiday in Bodrogkeresztúr, the airport welcomed an increased number of flights from Tel Aviv. In 24 hours, the airport hosted 15 flights, so our colleagues served a record number of flights, 30 in total. The airport operated on maximum capacity the whole day. The parking stands were full continuously from morning till late night. The different type aircrafts parked there were a unique sight.
