A bas-relief was dedicated to the Esztergom-Budapest auxiliary bishop György Snell, who died a year ago, at the Pál Apostol Catholic Kindergarten, Primary School and High School in Rákoskeresztúr, which he also founded.
At the school celebrating its 30th anniversary, Zoltán Fürjes, the Prime Minister's Deputy Secretary of State responsible for church and ethnic relations, said: the start of the originally ecumenical school was not easy. A place had to be found for the institution, the teaching staff and students had to be gathered, because in 1991 it was still "new" for everyone to send their children to a church school. The trust and faith of the parents was also necessary for the start. This faith has now "shown its constructive power", matured and produced fruit, he added. The deputy state secretary touched on:
Before 2010, the left-wing governments did not even pay the subsidies to church-maintained institutions that are required by law or international convention. In comparison, after 2010, church institutions could become partners of the government instead of "black sheep".
Zoltán Fürjes recalled: in 1990, the share of church-maintained institutions in public education was less than 1 percent, and by 2010 this share had only increased to 6.4 percent. Today, however, more than 15 percent of students participating in public education, approximately 240,000 children, attend church-maintained institutions.
This is thanks to the priests, pastors, dedicated teachers, school principals, kindergarten leaders and, last but not least, parents, who "worked against all odds to ensure that these institutions could be established, strengthened and operated," he said.
That is why we must not allow those who whisper, "sometimes shout with distorted faces" to "get out of school with the priests!".
Let's accept the historical truth that priests are in a good place in school, and children are in a good place in church school! - said Zoltán Fürjes.
Canon Prothonotary Gábor Gyetván, director general of the Catholic School Authority (EKIF) of the Archdiocese of Esztergom-Budapest, emphasized about György Snell:
Father Gyuri was endeared by his trust and directness. Everyone was close to him: God, the Virgin and people.
He also said: György Snell is now watching from above with his optimism what we are doing for him with the school he dreamed of and over which he "midwifed" for so long to become a truly church school.
György Snell wanted a school where the children get to know God, where their lives are interwoven with the Christian tradition, the Christian faith and knowledge of it, and where really good people come out of it, he said. He added: today's world needs even more good people, and for that we need our "schools", and we need people who dare to dream, step and act so that the future will be different.
György Snell's relief was blessed by Ferenc Cserháti, auxiliary bishop of Esztergom-Budapest.
Source and image: vasarnap.hu/MTI
