It is the duty of Christian democratic political leaders to protect and to strengthen the way of life that has stemmed from the Christian faith: human dignity, family, country and church communities, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said on Friday in Nagykáta in Pest County, at a thanksgiving service held on the occasion of the exterior refurbishment of the Roman Catholic St. George’s Church.
The Prime Minister stressed these aspirations can only meet with success if there are ever more professing communities in the Carpathian Basin such as the one of the Nagykáta people.
The prosperity of our families, the advancement of our children and future generations, the security of our lives and our national cohesion are all values which we can only defend and fulfil together and only on the two-thousand-year-old foundations of Christianity, Mr Orbán said.
He highlighted that Christians, Hungarians in particular, must always be ready to defend their faith, country and family.
The Prime Minister recalled that in 2003 when he visited Nagykáta to receive the St. George Award, “harsh and cold winds were blowing in Hungary”. It seemed that those would prevail for whom national cohesion meant little or nothing at all, and who were indifferent to the thousand-year-old heritage of the Hungarian people. However, the people of Nagykáta proudly accepted the heritage of the Christian witnesses, and showed how to hold on even in difficult times, he said.
The world has changed a great deal since, however, he continued. In 2010 “we won again […] and what we resolved here in 2003 we have mostly accomplished”.
He also pointed out that today twice as many children go to church schools as ten years ago, and churches look after elderly people and strengthen communities often beyond their means.
“It is important for our economy to be strong. It is important for our young people to be smart, and to stand their ground in competition. But it is at least as important for them to know where they belong. That they know where their home is, and what heritage they have received from their parents, their grandparents, from those who went before them,” Mr Orbán said in conclusion.
Vác coadjutor Lajos Varga said in his sermon that a church is none other than Jesus Christ himself, and the refurbished church, too, conveys the message that “we ourselves should seek to renew ourselves” and “should set out on the path that is Jesus Christ himself”.
Christian communities carry the message of Jesus, and therefore a church is a symbol of the Christian community.
At the service the St. George Diploma and the St. George Award established by the parish board were also handed over. This year the latter was conferred upon György Czerván, Member of Parliament for the constituency because with his work he always seeks to foster and to preserve Christian values, and provides help with the renovation of churches. Mr Czerván said the award was an honour, and then rendered an account of the projects implemented in the region in the past few years, including the refurbishment of eight churches.
(Cabinet Office of the Prime Minister/MTI)
