In Salgótarján, 15 Catholic, Reformed, Lutheran, Jewish and Baptist churches, houses of worship or community houses will be renovated, while 37 churches, houses of worship, community houses, schools and kindergartens will be renovated in 18 settlements around the county seat.

In Salgótarján and the surrounding settlements, churches and church buildings will be renovated for a total of HUF 4 billion 474 million, the developments are financed from the Modern Cities program.

Miklós Soltész, the State Secretary of the Prime Minister's Office responsible for church and ethnic relations, announced at a press conference on Monday at the Nógrád county seat: 15 Catholic, Reformed, Lutheran, Jewish and Baptist churches, houses of worship or community houses will be renovated in Salgótarján, while 37 churches and houses of worship will be renovated in 18 settlements around the county seat. , community center, school and kindergarten are renovated.

He also mentioned that in the church renovation program in other parts of Nógrád County, 40 Catholic, one Reformed and five Lutheran churches in 42 small settlements can be renovated for HUF 207 million.

The state secretary emphasized that investments are important from the point of view of religious life and education, but they also play a role in restarting the economy, giving jobs to as many people as possible.

Zsolt Fekete (Salgótarján, Szeretem! Association-DK-Jobbik-LMP-Momentum-MSZP-Párbeszéd-Tarjáni Városlakó Egyesület), the mayor of Salgótarján, said that the church developments were agreed upon in 2017 during the negotiations with Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, and the municipality feels it is important , so that the investments are realized not only within the administrative area of ​​the county seat, but also in the region, so that the related areas are beautified as well.

Zsolt Marton , the bishop of the Váci Diocese, said that most of the affected Catholic churches are listed buildings and are not only open to the faithful. As he said, the Bátonyterenye-Maconka church, for example, was built in the Middle Ages, but churches built in the 1920s and 30s are also being renovated now.

The bishop considered the developments important because, as he put it, churches are not only community places of the given religious denomination, not only places of worship, sanctuaries or synagogues, but also the built heritage of national culture.

Károly Becsó and Zsolt Becsó, Fidesz members of parliament from Nógrád, thanked the government for supporting the program, the Váci Diocese for the work done in the organization and the Salgótarján municipality for enabling the investments to be implemented in several settlements. According to their statement, the government has accepted the proposed full support package.

MTI

Cover photo: Illustration - MTI/Tibor Rosta