Christianity and Christmas are being attacked world-wide; however, the Hungarian government is committed to protecting Christian culture.
Tristan Azbej, Minister of State for Helping Persecuted Christians and the Implementation of the Hungary Helps Programme at the Prime Minister’s Office said there are approximately one billion Christians living in the world, Orthodox communities included, and they are being persecuted in many places East and South of Hungary, while in the West we can observe an anti-Christian movement.
Mr Azbej said in the West one can increasingly observe “anti-Christian processes”, Christianity is under attack, and even Christmas is frustrated. A few years ago, people in the Brussels city hall decided not to erect a Christmas tree, while in Santa Monica in California, US the local authorities banned nativity plays with reference to religious neutrality. Meanwhile, in Germany, Christian hymnbooks have been burnt, and in France, year after year, churches are attacked, Christian symbols and devotional objects are damaged and destroyed, including crosses being torn down, the Minister of State said.
According to his information, discrimination against Christians and attacks on Christian symbols are becoming ever more violent, and Christian people are also being attacked. In France, children performing a nativity play and singing Christian hymns were attacked. World-wide there are many similar incidents every year.
Christianty is the most persecuted religion, some quarter of a billion Christians are being persecuted or discriminated against around the world. Last year, too, thousands of people were killed due to their Christian faith, and this is being concealed, Mr Azbej stated.
In contrast, the Hungarian government is committed to protecting Christian culture, and is reinforcing Christian culture around the world by, among others, fighting against migration. They sincerely hope that with time Europe will also realise the importance of this, the Minister of State observed.
In 2016, as the first in the world, the Hungarian government launched a programme with a view to helping persecuted Christians, and in the past two and a half years, this programme has helped some 70,000 persecuted Christians in dozens of countries. For instance, in Syria the government contributed to the reconstruction of a Christian school and university, in North Nigeria they helped with the restoration of the health care network destroyed by Jihadists, in Ethiopia they are offering assistance with providing care for refugees, in Iraq they are helping the Yazidi community, while in the Holy Land they are providing assistance with the enlargement of a museum.
However, the Hungarian government is unable to resolve extensive humanitarian crises on its own; this is why it is drawing the world’s attention to Christian persecution. So far two major international conferences have been organised in Hungary about Christian persecution with the attendance of hundreds of representatives from many countries. The goal is to ensure that the gravest and most concealed crisis under international law can be no longer denied, Mr Azbej said.
(MTI)
