This was said by Kaposvár County Bishop László Varga, who was asked by Magyar Hírlap about his diocese and Hungarian church life on the occasion of the upcoming International Eucharistic Congress in Budapest.
We quote from the article.
– I see the greatest challenge as how the Hungarian and the world church can give an evangelical response to the signs of the times, especially with regard to attacks and persecutions against Christians.
- What do you think?
- To what extent members of different denominations can unite: Catholics, Reformed, Evangelicals, Anglicans and members of small churches, so that they stand together and in unity against the ideologies that attack them in order to show Christian morality, the dignity of the person, and the biblical image of man as a sign . In addition, the pandemic also severely affected Christians.
What the harshest communist dictatorship could not achieve, the pandemic did: closed churches and religious practice without community became the norm. Can we win back the faithful? Do we dare to look for new ways to proclaim the gospel? Do we take the risk of the "exiting church" or do we retreat to the old-fashioned safety?
- Perhaps the world event in Budapest in September will provide an answer to this, when all believers will pay attention to our country with a little exaggeration.
As head pastor, what would you most like to show the world about Hungarian Christianity? – I visited Taize in France for the first time in nineteen eighty-six, where I was able to personally meet Roger Schütz, the leader of the community. When he found out that I was a priest, he talked about how the Hungarian Christians and the Christians of the other persecuted churches in Eastern Europe are prophetic signs and bearers of hope for the West, because they accepted suffering and persecution for their faith.
What I would like to show from Hungarian Christianity is the committed Christian men, women, priests and monks who confess their faith and accept persecution. We need living examples in the midst of the current persecutions.
"And if we're not thinking about a historical topic?"
– Together with the above, I would like to show the poor living among us, the broken Christs, the treasures of the church. They deserve much more love, attention and respect than they get. I would be happy to introduce our enthusiastic young people, who are not afraid to take up their faith and bear witness to Christian morality, as well as our brothers who are evangelizing in a new way and filled with the Holy Spirit. Last but not least, those who serve in silence and in secret, my priests and faithful faithful to the church and their profession.
You can read the article in its entirety here
