European Christianity is not going through easy times, but Europe is not in a good state either

For almost eight decades, Europe has not been tested by armed wars, but instead by experiencing a renewed cultural and lifestyle struggle, behind which there are tangible power factors.

European Christianity is not going through easy times - stated Gergely Gulyás , Minister in charge of the Prime Minister's Office, at the handover ceremony of the Bárányfelhő Svábhegyi Reformed Kindergarten in Budapest on Sunday. Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and his wife, Anikó Lévai, took part in the service held in the nearby Reformed church and the handing over of the kindergarten.

    Quoting Robert Schuman, Gergely Gulyás said at the event: in addition to the fact that European Christianity is not going through easy times, Europe is not in a good state either, and few have yet realized that it is worth looking for a connection between the two facts.

    The minister put it this way: for almost eight decades, Europe has not been tested by armed wars, but instead by experiencing a renewed cultural and lifestyle struggle, behind which there are tangible factors of power.

    We witness attacks against faith, community and culture every day - Gergely Gulyás stressed. He noted: taking advantage of the rhythm of life fundamentally changed by technological development, they are trying to bracket the basic values ​​from Christian culture.

   He also spoke about the fact that Europe is divided in the search for answers to the population problem, while in Western Europe they see the solution in migration, in Central Europe in family policy and the family support system. Therefore

In Central Europe, "it would mean a cultural break and social assimilation" if those who destroy the family support system come to power in any country

he drew attention.

    The minister said: since there is a significant proportion of immigrants and their children among Western European children, they see the key to maintaining the European way of life if education falls on the parents as little as possible and on the state as much as possible. He declared that the ideology of Western states is now "characterized by a neoliberal philosophy that captures the state and elevates it to a mandatory religion."

    Hungary's position is clear and cannot be changed under the influence of any kind of blackmail: raising children is primarily the responsibility of the parents, stated Gergely Gulyás. He added that, in addition to promoting healthy physical and mental development of children, public education should strengthen national identity and provide access to the most up-to-date knowledge.

    In these areas, church education has always performed outstandingly - the minister praised church education, noting that the Nobel laureate Albert Szent-Györgyi was also a student of the Reformed high school.

    He said about his government work over the past decade:

Since 2010, the number of nursery places has been increased by more than 60 percent from 32,000 to 53,000,

about 15,000 existing places have been modernized, and a crèche for another 13,000 children is being built. When these are completed, the number of places will be the same as the nursery needs, the head of the ministry pointed out. He added: while in 2010 there were crèches in 326 settlements, today 840 provide such a service.

    He explained: the government has increased the number of kindergarten places by 16,000 in the last decade, 1,885 kindergartens have already been renovated, and another 974 kindergartens are in the process of being renovated. The share of church institutions was 3.7 percent of all kindergarten places in 2010, and today it has risen to 8 percent, and more than 30,000 people attend church kindergartens, Gergely Gulyás listed.

    He pointed out: while in 2010, barely 50,000 children went to church primary schools and 32,000 to church high schools, a decade later the number of primary school students studying in church institutions exceeded 110,000, and there were 55,000 high school students. This means that the share of the church in public education increased from 6.7 percent to 15.3 percent for elementary school students, and from 15.4 percent to 25.2 percent for high school students, the minister stated.

    Zoltán Pokorni , the XII. In his congratulatory speech, the ruling party mayor of the district said: not only the community builds the kindergarten, but such an institution also builds the community.

    Miklós Soltész , the State Secretary of the Prime Minister's Office responsible for church and ethnic relations, quoted the words of Pope Francis in his Budapest homily and said: "Following Jesus means that we approach our brothers and sisters every day."

    Balázs Fürjes , the State Secretary of the Prime Minister's Office responsible for the development of Budapest and the capital city agglomeration, called attention to the fact that the child is a treasure, that children carry and show the fullness of life before the opening of the kindergarten.

    Berta Zolt said at the service before the inauguration: in September, the educational work started in September with about 70 children in three groups in the kindergarten, which can accommodate five groups.

MTI

Cover photo: MTI/Zoltán Máthé