Let's see how much cocoa there is still in Western Christianity! says Csaba Böjte. According to the Franciscan monk, the identity crisis has also reached the Christian communities in Hungary, but he is optimistic, because the thinking of our continent is still fundamentally shaped by the teachings of Jesus. Interview.

He has big plans for the near future, as far as I know, he is heading to Western Europe to take Deva's drive and enthusiasm there as well. What are you up to?

Everyone is burying Christian Europe, the French, the Germans. I am of the opinion that a child in trouble should not be sent away, but should be bathed and taught, and the sick should not be buried, but cured. I've been thinking for a long time that we should go to Western Europe, blow some ashes off the coals.

Let's take the message of the Hungarian Christians to our Western brothers and sisters.

Would it be our job?

Do you know who was the patron saint of Hungary until the end of Saint Stephen's reign?

King Stephen offered the country to the Virgin Mary.

But until then, Bishop St. Martin was our patron saint. István's mother-in-law, who, like his wife, was called Gizella, was born in Burgundy, where St. Martin is buried. And he did not become the patron saint of that region because he gave half of his cloak to the poor. When the enemy invaded the country, Martin rode against them on the emperor's side. On the day before the battle, the emperor gave gifts to his allies, but Martin did not accept them.

He was of the opinion that the enemy should not be defeated, but convinced.

With the emperor's permission, he went over to the enemy camp, negotiated, and the battle was not fought. We don't know what he said or how he said it, but the fact is that he won peace, resigned his rank as a general, moved in with the Franks, learned their language, became their bishop and apostle. More than eight hundred churches were built in his honor in France. It is as if today a high-ranking American general were to return his decorations, move among the Afghans, learn their language, and convert the entire people.

So would you ride against the zeitgeist?

This is not the end of the story, because the Moorish pressure from the direction of the Iberian Peninsula was also strong. However, under the leadership of Pippin the Little, victories were achieved that changed the history of Europe, and his son, Charles the Great, became the first Western Roman emperor. Saint Stephen's brother-in-law, Henry later became the only Western Roman emperor to be canonized. In practice, Károly's person and work gave us Christian Europe. In the center of his rule, in Aachen, he collected many special and priceless Christian relics, even from the time of Christ. These are released to the public once every seven years - this year is the seventh year. Cardinal Péter Erdő was invited to the related celebratory mass on July 13.

I thought, let's go out on a huge pilgrimage as many as possible, make a pilgrimage together, take the love and message of Hungarian Christians to our Western brothers and sisters. The organizers said they couldn't accept more than five hundred people from us - the logic of daring to be small! – but five hundred people can be good at it, can't they?

So we will accompany the cardinal on ten buses, we will have a separate sector. Let's see how much cocoa there is in this Western Christianity, let's make them sing!

The nations that once supported Christianity are now one by one denying what they were condemned for earlier. Do you see any chance of reversing this process?

Szent István saw his brother-in-law as an example, and Szent László's role model was Károly Nagy. They wanted to achieve in the Carpathian Basin what their role models did in the West. They were attracted by the ideal of a Christian Europe. In the depths of our souls, we feel that a Carolingian reform would certainly come in handy even today. But let's not fight against something, but for something: for our roots, for our ideals! I feel that Christians here in Hungary are also struggling with some kind of identity crisis. Let's not forget: the country was built under the banner of Márton Szent István, who did not want to defeat but to convince the enemy.

We have no other spiritual country but Christianity.

Do you see what we want to defeat now?

We fight against everyone. The goal of Christianity is not defeat, but integration and evangelization. Jesus did not defeat Saul, but integrated him - and how much richer the church is with the hymn of love than with an executed Saul!

If you brought it up: is there cocoa in Western Christianity? What state do you think he is in today?

I always tell my colleagues that a good teacher does not behave like a beauty pageant judge. They are scored in the competition, and the children who join us come from a difficult line, if we were to receive them in this way, we could score almost all of them right away. A true artist manages to carve a wonderful masterpiece out of a block of marble, and a good teacher brings out knowledge and value from a child. I have no right to speak down about Western Christianity, and it wouldn't make sense, but a meeting would be good for them and for us. We will be able to draw strength, we will be brave, we will have fun, just like at home at the farewell party in Csiksomlyo.

In connection with Christian Europe, several people claim that it is just a myth, that our continent was never Christian...

However, those beautiful cathedrals were still built by someone, that innumerable saint grew up somewhere! It is often questioned whether something has grown out of Jesus Christ's commandment to love. I always tell the children that this command of Jesus is there, for example, in the public road network, public education, public health, public lighting, and public safety. In Christian Europe, I can go anywhere without a weapon, if I get sick, they take care of me, I can send my child to school, he can graduate from university, in Hungary he can learn two professions for free - no matter what anyone says, this all grew out of the command of love. If you don't believe me, go to the Congo and see what happens when you call 112.

I do not agree with Gandhi, who said that Christian Europe is like a stone in water: if you break it, it is dry inside. I see that in Europe, even the person who does not go to church, who is not baptized, sings and hums from morning to night the values ​​that Christ preached: willingness to dialogue, mercy, solidarity.

All of this permeates us. If someone kicks a stray dog, Christian Europe will hiss. Why? Because Jesus said don't kill, don't hurt anyone.

But while he hisses compassionately, he kills ten thousand of his own fetuses every day.

I never said we reached the finish line. But we have come a long way in these two thousand years! And the further route is only good if it shines in the light of the gospel. Of course, we tend to simplify things: does someone go to church, was he baptized, how many rosaries does he say. But the Virgin Mary didn't recite a single rosary, and her baptism certificate would also have to be searched for a long time in Nazareth. Don't limit Christianity to external things! Yes, there is certainly a lot to do, but I think it would be a shame to devalue and throw away the two thousand years we lived together. We let what is human pass away, what is divine, let us hold it in high esteem, appreciate it, and build on it.

Jesus did not promise his followers that it would be an easy journey. He said that whoever wants to follow him should take up his cross.

If the question were raised somewhere around here today, Jesus or Barabbas, what would we shout?

It is feared that we would still choose Barabás, but perhaps not in such a large percentage as two thousand years ago. (Laughs) Thank God the death penalty has been abolished in Europe, so both of them would be alive. We must trust in ourselves and above all in God. I couldn't even believe in a god who chased utopia with his children for two thousand years. I not only pray for the coming of the kingdom of God, but I believe and confess that the kingdom is being built around us and through us. Of course, when a big tree falls, everyone hears it. One hectare of forest grows by seven cubic meters a year, a huge amount, but we don't even notice it. Christianity and Christian Europe exist and will continue to develop. We have no other spiritual country but Christianity.

Gergely Vágvölgyi's full interview can be read HERE!

Featured image: Árpád Földházi