Instead of rejection, Cardinal Péter Erdő, Primate, Archbishop of Esztergom-Budapest, called for the "gentle unity" experienced at the International Eucharistic Congress in his speech, who celebrated mass on Sunday in the basilica named after the martyr St. Stephen, known as the church of the Hungarians in Rome.
Péter Erdő spoke about the Christian community in his homily attached to the daily gospel section. He believed that it should be boldly stated that the Church of Christ cannot be confined within earthly boundaries. He added that no one can be "indifferent" regarding the relationship with Christ: it is a personal relationship, some meet Christ, some reject him, but "there can be no neutrality."
He stated that when we belong to an organization or community, Jesus considers the essential content of human behavior more important than the label or the name.
"That's why he doesn't approve of the narrow-mindedness that rejects and doesn't value those who don't belong to our group. We often experience this situation in our parish or spiritual groups. We tend to believe that anyone who does not go to our group of friends, our hiking group, our special gathering, is not a real Christian or Catholic (..) They may come from far away. Maybe they are just beginning to shyly return to religion," said Cardinal Erdő.
He gave thanks for the 52nd International Eucharistic Congress (NEK) held in Budapest between September 5 and 12, which he called an unforgettable event in the history of the Hungarian Catholic Church.
"Because different styles, spiritual movements, and nationalities gathered around the Eucharist in beautiful harmony, in such a gentle unity that even non-Catholic Christians noticed (..) This is an important message for the church of our time. We should not pay the most attention to our own structures, but to Christ himself, who gives trust, strength, and serenity to our age tortured by anxiety and cynicism," the cardinal declared.
At the mass presented in the Santo Stefano Rotondo Basilica, known as the former title church of Cardinal József Mindszenty, András Veres, the president of the Hungarian Catholic Bishops' Conference (MKPK), county bishop László Német, the chief pastor of the Diocese of Nagybecskerek in Vojvodina, one of the new vice-presidents of the Council of European Bishops' Conferences (CCEE), Tamás Tóth MKPK secretary, Greek Catholic Archbishop Fülöp Kocsis, Metropolitan, and Hungarian priests serving in Rome concelebrated.
The mass was attended by Miklós Soltész, the State Secretary of the Prime Minister's Office responsible for church and ethnic relations.
MTI
Cover image: Illustration - MTI/Zsolt Szigetváry
