As reported by 2022 plus on Friday, Esztergom became a city with county rights as of today. As part of the celebration, Cardinal Péter Erdő, Archbishop of Esztergom-Budapest, celebrated Mass in the Cathedral of Our Lady and Saint Adalbert, and then Prime Minister Viktor Orbán gave a speech.
The prime minister highlighted: Today, they are losing what we Hungarians owe to ourselves, adding: the city has proven through its actions in recent years that it is not only its history that makes it one of the most important Hungarian cities, but also the diligence, strength, culture and patriotism of its citizens.
The prime minister also reminded that the fate of the city and the history of Hungarians were inextricably intertwined.
"Esztergom is our spiritual center and also our most important connection with the Western-Christian civilization of which we have been a part for more than a thousand years."
Hungarian statehood would be unthinkable without Esztergom, he pointed out. Viktor Orbán also called the primacy institution the "first constitutional court" of Hungary, saying: in addition to the task of coronation, the archbishop of Esztergom had the duty to warn the king to respect the constitution.
He also recalled that troubles did not escape the former capital either: the Tatars ransacked it, and then foreign mercenaries betrayed it to the Turks. The last hundred years have affected Esztergom as well as the entire country, because just as the country lost two-thirds, Esztergom, located in the middle of the country, became a border town.
The "coffin nail" was driven in by the communists in 1950, with the abolition of the old county system, he said.
Today, we are here to restore this city of national importance to its former status - emphasized Viktor Orbán.
Source: János Tóth/Szent Adalbert Center
In the time of Saint Stephen, Esztergom was the secular and spiritual center of the country, from here the Christian mission radiated throughout the country, and to this day this city is one of the main bearers of our religious and cultural identity, said Péter Erdő in the Esztergom basilica.
He recalled that in the Middle Ages, Esztergom was the center of ecclesiastical culture, literacy, musical and artistic life, and then only a part of our country's religious and cultural treasures were saved from Turkish rule. What survived returned to the city in the 19th century.
If the collections in the city reveal their richness to those interested, this cathedral can raise its head again, because the ancient inscription will become a reality: the mother and head of the churches of Hungary, Péter Erdő declared.
The cardinal called Esztergom the city of dialogue, and then said that church life is intertwined with culture here, and as a school city, its diocesan and monastic schools pass on the heritage of Christian culture to many thousands of young people.
He said that the religious studies college, the seminary and the Pázmány Péter Catholic University also raise the level of intellectual work going on here, and then he thanked all those who made it possible to raise Esztergom to the status of a city with county rights.
Source: MTI
Featured image: MTI/Prime Minister's Press Office
