More and more Eastern Orthodox church leaders are expressing their support for Viktor Orbán in addition to the Hungarian government's efforts to prevent the European Commission's plan to place Patriarch Kirill of Russia on the EU sanctions list, said Bertalan Havasi.
The deputy state secretary in charge of the Prime Minister's Press Office said that most recently II. Syrian Orthodox Patriarch Ignác Efrem and Archbishop Nathan Hovhannisian, head of the Armenian Apostolic Church responsible for foreign relations, asked and encouraged Prime Minister Viktor Orbán in a letter to consistently represent the Hungarian position.
The latter expressed his gratitude for his readiness and commitment to protect the rights of the Christian churches and, in this case, the Russian Orthodox Church.
No church or head of church should be targeted and influenced as a result of political processes, he stated.
adding: the Armenian Apostolic Holy Church supports Hungary's worthy initiative, as the Armenian Church considers sanctions against churches or church leaders unacceptable.
II. The Syrian Orthodox Patriarch Ignác Efrem said: the introduction of sanctions against church leaders is a precedent that disturbs the hearts of millions of Christians around the world. In addition, the Church can play a constructive role in reconciliation and build bridges between people when this war is over.
Pastor Svyatoslav Bulah, advisor to the Archpriest of the Governor of the Hungarian Diocese of the Russian Orthodox Church, secretary of the diocese office, wrote to Viktor Orbán: among their believers there are representatives of Hungarians, Russians, Ukrainians, Georgians and other nationalities, and his
for them, Patriarch Kirill is a true spiritual shepherd, our father, whose pastoral guidance is indispensable for us. In our opinion, such actions against the church leader are unprecedented and unacceptable in today's world.
Serbian Orthodox Patriarch Porfirije stated in his letter that possible sanctions against the Russian patriarch are contrary to basic human and religious rights, based on which all churches and religious communities are separated from the state, and are not equal to general state policy.
Sanctions on the head of the Orthodox Church would upset the entire Orthodox community in Hungary and would lose the spirit of evangelical peace,
which must be preserved in Hungary in any case, you can facilitate this by vetoing such decisions in the European Union - wrote the head of the Serbian church to Viktor Orbán.
The Hungarian government also issued a statement on the matter:
The Hungarian government does not allow the European Union to seriously violate religious freedom citing political reasons. We stand by the Eastern Christian churches!
Eastern church leaders - among them representatives of persecuted Christian churches - appealed to Prime Minister Viktor Orbán to prevent the European Commission's plan to put Kirill, the Russian Orthodox Patriarch of Moscow, on the sanctions list.
As always, our Eastern Christian brothers can count on Hungary's support. Prime Minister Viktor Orbán announced in his interview this morning that after hearing the request of church leaders, we will block the EU's plan. We reject the dangerous precedent that would make the sanctioning of church members a tool of political intentions and that would curtail the free religious practice of Hungarian Orthodox communities. Freedom of religion is a sacred and inviolable right, and sanctioning Patriarch Kirill would violate this right. We believe that the church can play a constructive role in reconciliation and build bridges between people. This is especially necessary in times of conflict.
(MTI – facebook/Azbej Tristan)
Image source: MTI/EPA/Oleg Varov
