Prime Minister Viktor Orbán appears to have had an audience with Pope Francis and the Hungarian leader–whose government has explicitly gone against the message of compassion that the Catholic pontiff has shared in regards to the refugee crisis–was quick to post a photo of his reported visit to Facebook. Fidesz does, after all, govern together with the Christian Democratic People’s […]
Standing next to a boat used by refugees to reach safer shores, Germany’s Cardinal Rainer Maria Woelki begged Europeans not to turn a blind eye to the plight of migrants. “Someone who lets people drown in the Mediterranean also drowns God — every day, thousands of times.” Cardinal Vincent Nichols of Westminster asked Catholics to protest against immigration policies that […]
Hungarian society is a largely secular one, even though references to the nation’s Christian heritage and “character” feature prominently in the discourse of the current government and in its press. Yet the Orbán government’s approach to refugees, the migration crisis and to those who are most vulnerable within society stands in stark contrast to the “brand” of Christianity espoused by Pope […]
When I was growing up in Hungary my parents wanted me to learn German and I took lessons from a nice older lady. I learned much later that she had been a nun before 1950 and gave private lessons to survive after losing her teaching job at a Catholic school. On August 30, 1950, Hungary’s Stalinist government closed 23 male […]
Ambassador Réka Szemerkényi, Hungary’s top diplomat to Washington wanted to make the dedication of the Hungarian Chapel in the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception a major event. She invited all Hungarian-Americans and passionately urged the 1.5 million strong community to be present “regardless of religious affiliation” what will certainly be an inspiring and memorable event. “Let’s […]
Readers of the Montreal Gazette will likely notice András Göllner’s column in this morning’s paper. The founder of the Canadian Hungarian Democratic Charter explores Pope Francis’ approach to compassion, diversity and inclusion, contrasting this with authoritarian political leaders, most notably Hungary’s Viktor Orbán and Russia’s Vladimir Putin. Prof. Göllner’s piece is worth a read and most certainly worth sharing here […]
Many right-wing Hungarians were pedalling the idea during the entire refugee crisis that volunteers were somehow unmoved by the suffering of ethnic Hungarians living in poverty. Well, I was walking along Népszínház Street and Köztársaság Square the other day, and I have to conclude that the Hungarian homeless were better off while there were still refugees. Now all I see […]
The August 29th dedication of the new Chapel (Magyarok Nagyasszonya kápolna) at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington DC will start with a Solemn Mass celebrated by Cardinal Wuerl of Washington and Cardinal Erdő of Esztergom-Budapest. Readings and choral pieces will be both in English and in Hungarian. This could be a wonderful religious […]
László Kövér is 55 years old. He is the Speaker of the Hungarian National Assembly and also a founding member of the ruling Fidesz party. He started his remarkable political career as a junior “apparatchik” of the Hungarian Communist Politburo in 1986. Born into a Communist family, he earned a law degree, and his contacts propelled him into a job […]
Each year we spend a couple of weeks in Hungary. Generally we go in May to beat the heavy tourist crowds and the unbearable heat of the summer in the city. Just before we left, a friend called and told us that he was coming to Hungary to sing with his choir. Since we would be in Budapest he invited […]
