On the thirtieth anniversary of his visit to Debrecen, on Wednesday, St. II was inaugurated in front of the local St. Anne's Cathedral. Full-length statue of Pope János Pál, created by sculptor Jenő Kovács.

Miklós Soltész, the Prime Minister's Secretary of State responsible for church and ethnic relations, called II. János Pál's visit to Debrecen three decades ago.

He recalled that the Pope proclaimed sectarian reconciliation by laying a wreath on the monument of the Protestant Gaul Arabs and with his speech in the Great Reformed Church, one of the local results of which was the great relationship between the three bishoprics in Debrecen - Reformed, Roman Catholic and Greek Catholic - he added.

The state secretary called it a "great deed" that II. In 1993, Pope János Pál founded the independent Nyíregyház Diocese of Debrecen, which operates kindergartens, schools, and social institutions in addition to religious life. He announced: the government has decided to support the construction of the Debrecen-Józsa Catholic school with HUF 1.676 billion.

Miklós Soltész called him a visionary pope II. János Pál, who warned after the fall of communism that "it won't be easier" after that, and even more difficult in some respects.

"He warned us about the goddamn world unleashed on us 30 years ago"

said the state secretary, adding that

"The new image of Europe is being born at the cost of difficult travails before our eyes".

Miklós Soltész said in Debrecen that "we can do the greatest service by once again bearing witness together to the Christian values ​​that created the foundations of Europe and Hungary".

Katarzyna Ratajczak Sowa , an employee of the Embassy of the Republic of Poland in Budapest, expressed her joy that her compatriot, the Polish Pope, "occupies such a place in the hearts of Hungarians". He recalled his visits to Hungary, among other things, when, before his papacy, he visited the Polish workers building the sugar factory in Kaba.

The statue erected in front of the cathedral was blessed by Archbishop Csaba Ternyák of Eger.

Csaba Ternyák , who was in Rome for ten years II. A direct colleague of Pope János Pál, he called the visit thirty years ago a significant milestone in the history of ecumenism in Hungary.

"After the papal visit to Debrecen, something changed even in the papal leadership"

- the archbishop referred to the expansion of ecumenism, to the theological dialogue initiated in 1995, the essence of which is that "Peter's service is realized in such a way that each party sees it as love".

In connection with the visit of Pope Ferenc Csaba Ternyák to Budapest in September, he said that the event will be a special occasion again, that Péter's successor is coming this time to "perform Peter's service: to strengthen us in our faith". "Francis is today's Peter, and where Peter is, there is the church," Csaba Ternyák warned the ecclesiastical critics of the Pope in St. II. in his homily delivered as part of the holy mass organized in memory of Pope John Paul II".

MTI

Photo: MTI/Zsolt Czeglédi