Marymount University and Réka Szemerkényi — The former ambassador has no place at a Catholic institution

One would be hard pressed to find a western government more openly and intrinsically opposed to the social teachings of the Roman Catholic Church than that of Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orbán. When we speak about Catholic social teachings, we refer to seven key principles, fundamentally dating back to Pope Leo XIII’s encyclical of 1891, entitled On the Condition of Labour (Rerum Novarum) and further developed in the twentieth century, thanks to initiatives like the Catholic workers’ movement or Liberation Theology, among others. The principles of Catholic social teaching include what is often referred to as the “preferential option for the poor,” solidarity, the dignity of workers, a charter or rights and responsibilities for all in society, a life lived within a supportive community and care for the environment and the natural world.

The preferential option for the poor, in particular, as espoused by Superior General of the Jesuits, Father Pedro Arrupe, in 1968, calls on us to embrace those living on the margins, the vulnerable and the powerless in our society. “To be just, is not enough to refrain from injustice. Once must go further and refuse to play its game, substituting love for self interest as the driving force of society,” wrote Fr. Arrupe.

The game played by Hungary’s government is one of embedded and cynical injustice so intrinsically opposed to every social teaching of the Roman Catholic Church, and especially the principles espoused by Pope Francis, that we cannot imagine one of the most high-ranking representatives of this government giving a commencement address at a Roman Catholic institution. Yet this is precisely what will happen this weekend at Marymount University, where former Ambassador Réka Szemerkényi, has been invited to speak.

Ms. Szemerkényi, who has already served in an earlier Orbán government as State Secretary for Foreign Policy, unflinchingly represented the interests of a regime that objectified the poor and the marginalized in the cruelest way imaginable. Ms. Szemerkényi represented, without batting an eye, a government that:

  • Criminalized the homeless and homelessness, forcibly and brutally removing them from public sight;
  • Launched a national billboard campaign at the height of the refugee crisis in Europe, labeling all refugees and migrants as criminals and terrorists bent on destroying Hungary and Hungarian culture;
  • Systematically desensitized Hungarian society to the plight and suffering of others through an anti-immigrant referendum, followed by an anti-immigrant “national consultation,” which explicitly depicted men, women and children fleeing Syria and other war-torn lands as subhuman;
  • Spread alarm among the poorest and most vulnerable Roma communities in Hungary that accepting refugees from the Middle East would negatively impact the government’s ability to offer welfare payments and programs to Hungarian citizens. This was among the most cynical move yet, in that it was meant to also reinforce negative stereotypes in the majority population about the Roma.
  • Maintains political power through fear (fear of losing one’s livelihood and fear of repercussions for one’s family) in a way that is simply unimaginable in the United States.
  • The fact that a recent high-ranking representative of a regime that is openly attacking academic freedom and is about to shut down Central European University in Budapest is invited to give the commencement address at a Catholic university sends a message of a distinct lack of solidarity with professors, academics and students overseas who may soon see their institution shuttered.

Ms. Szemerkényi has made a conscious decision to loyally represent a regime that is intrinsically at odds with Catholic social teaching and, indeed, at odds with social justice of every kind. Had she found what she was asked to defend and represent reprehensible or objectionable, she could have resigned. We all make decisions in life. Ms. Szemerkényi chose to promulgate the most inhumane and unjust regime in the western world. As such, she has no place serving as a model or inspiration for students and new graduates at a Roman Catholic university. Ms. Szemerkényi’s example is not one that anyone who respects the dignity of human life can follow.

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