The former Franciscan church renovated with the support of the European Union and the Romanian and Hungarian governments was consecrated in Szamosújvár, Cluj county, on October 8, Romkat.ro, the joint portal of the Hungarian Catholic dioceses in Romania, reported.
In 2001, the Franciscans, after 259 years of presence in Szamosújvár, handed over the church and the monastery next to it to the pastoral services of the main diocese of Gyulafehérvár.
Since a complete renovation took place and since there is no record of consecration either from the time of construction in 1758 or from the time of the renovation after the fire that destroyed the church in 1857, Archbishop Gergely Kovács consecrated the building. In addition to its previous patron saint, St. Peter of Alcantara, it also received a new patron saint in the person of Our Lady of the Hungarians.
In his homily, Archbishop Gergely Kovács touched on the fact that in addition to the faith of the ancestors, the faith of those living in the present must also be celebrated, since a living faith was necessary for the renovation of the building complex. He asked the Szamosújvár community to make the renewed church not only God's home, but also the home of the faithful, a place for them to come together.
In his speech at the end of the Mass , Miklós Soltész, the Prime Minister's State Secretary responsible for church and ethnic relations, said: years ago, the task of renovating the dilapidated church, monastery and meeting house seemed hopeless.
However, he added that we should also be thankful for hopeless situations, because "getting out of them and solving difficult situations gives strength to all of us". He recalled: Hungarian history is a series of hopeless situations from which the nation was able to rise.
The state secretary thanked the Romanian government, the Romanian leadership of Szamosújvár, and the Romanian people for realizing that help should be provided to the Hungarian and Armenian communities living in the diaspora. He considered it a common task to heal the historical wounds inflicted on each other and to unite for common goals. Among the latter, he mentioned action against the "selfish Western policy" that seduces young people, and keeping young people at home.
"You can always count on the Hungarian government, but we have a request, next April we count on you too," remarked the state secretary, referring to the parliamentary elections in Hungary.
As reported by Romkat.ro: the total budget for the renovation of the church and monastery was 20.89 million lei (1.5 billion forints), most of which was provided by the European Union.
Source: MTI
