A petition spearheaded by a Catholic bishop, a prominent musician, two television personalities and a Catholic blogger has attracted more than 5,000 signatures in just one day. The petition was launched by Bishop Miklós Beer, musician András Hajós, TV host Alinda Veiszer, television personality Gábor Takács Gundel and the founder of the Christian Szemlélek blog, István Gégény. In this petition, the organizers write:
“Defending our borders is in all of our interest, so that we are able to monitor these frontiers, to know who is arriving and with whom we share our lives. It is, after all, in our common interest to defend the borders of a humane society. In the last few days, it is this institution that suffered an attack. If we do not respond to this, a series of self-destructive processes may take hold.”
The organizers are clearly referring to the terrible events in the town of Őcsény, where villagers fell into a paranoid frenzy and attacked the owner of a guesthouse who simply offered temporary accommodation to a small handful of refugee children on vacation in the area. They add: “In the last few days, we got a dramatic illustration of where xenophobia, misunderstandings and exaggerated passions lead. We have become a society, where at any point, the earlier principles can be replaced by aggression, sparked by a fear of the unknown and where otherwise peaceful citizens resolve conflicts using pocket knives and bricks.”
Bishop of Vác, Miklós Beer, one of the five organizers.
The petition also calls on supporters to do what they can locally to end the “reign of fear.” Without naming the Orbán government, it adds that ordinary Hungarians can be misled by half truths and propaganda–misled to the point where they attack a neighbour, whose only sin is that he wishes to lend a helping hand to people in need. This was again a clear reference to Őcsény.
The petition is an important initiative. We certainly encourage our readers to consider signing it.
