Pope Benedict, as a theologian, cardinal, incumbent and then pope emeritus, was a defining figure in the life of our church, Cardinal Péter Erdő, Archbishop of Esztergom-Budapest, said on Saturday.

“Even during years of weakness and ill-health, he radiated serenity,” Erdő wrote in a statement. “The greatest Catholic theologian of our time has left us.” “He felt and understood the signs of the times. He carried the 2nd Vatican Council in his heart,” the head of the Hungarian Catholic Church added. Benedict was aware of the dangers facing the Church, Europe and humanity, Erdő said, but he also saw new vistas and reason for hope.

In his last great encyclical (Caritas in veritate), Benedict saw truth as love manifested in society and he proclaimed the truth of Christ’s love in that spirit. The Cardinal also referred to Benedict as “a true European”. “He knew how to listen to others’ opinions with patience … He was a man of dialogue,” he wrote.

Erdő added that Benedict had “understood the problems and joys” of Hungarians, and had followed the International Eucharistic Congress in Budapest “with love and interest”. He cited Pope Francis as saying: “We all feel his spiritual presence … his theological work still bears fruit and is effective.”

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In his first papal mass, Benedict spoke of Jesus, who, as a good shepherd, sought out and carried lost sheep — humanity itself — on his shoulders, he wrote. As Jesus’s “collaborator in this great mission … we trust that Pope Benedict will complete this great work with his prayers from the House of the Heavenly Father,” Erdő added.

The Hungarian Catholic Bishops’ Conference (MKPK) also paid tribute to Benedict, saying his knowledge and wisdom had guided entire generations “The members of the Hungarian Catholic Bishops’ Conference were touched to hear that Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI has completed his earthly journey and returned to the house of the Heavenly Father,” the MKPK said in a statement. “The entire life of Joseph Ratzinger, later known as Benedict XVI, was a testimony to his unwavering personal faith for all of us,” they added.

The MKPK called on “all people of good will” to remember Benedict in their prayers and urged Catholics “to pray for our Holy Father and the whole Church”.

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The Hungarian Evangelical Fellowship (Magyar Evangéliumi Testvérközösség, MET) led by pastor Gábor Iványi has been registered as a church following a court’s rejection of a prosecutor’s appeal, the church said on Friday.

The ruling does not mean, however, that MET has regained its past legal status, the church said in a statement, explaining that this would require an agreement with the Hungarian state.

The statement noted that MET lost its status following the enactment of the 2011 law on the legal status of churches and religious denominations. The organisation eventually turned to the European Court of Human Rights, which ordered the Hungarian government to pay compensation to MET. In 2013, Hungary’s Constitutional Court ruled that the MET had been stripped of its legal status in a manner that was unconstitutional and ordered the state to restore its church status.

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MET said that though this ruling remained valid to this day, the government had continually ignored it and was preventing it from being enforced.

After more than 90,000 taxpayers opted to donate one percent of their income tax to MET over the last two years, “the court had no choice but to register” MET and then declare it a church in spite of an attempted appeal by the prosecutor’s office, the statement said.

The next step, however, requires that the state sign an agreement with MET mandating the organisation’s performance of its public duties, which must then be approved by parliament, they added. MET said it had sent a letter to Deputy Prime Minister Zsolt Semjén in the matter but had yet to receive a reply.

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