The Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Máriakeménd, considered a place of pilgrimage and farewell, has been renovated. The building was blessed by Pécs county bishop László Felföldi at a festive mass on Sunday.
Miklós Soltész, the State Secretary of the Prime Minister's Office responsible for church and ethnic relations, told journalists before the event organized on the occasion of the renovation of the Baranya County, which was largely supported by the government:
thanks to the cooperation of the Hungarian government and the churches and ethnic communities, 3,700 churches throughout the Carpathian Basin were able to be renovated in the past decade.
He pointed out that all of this places a great responsibility on the Hungarians and the nations living here: the messages that the Holy Father also formulated the other day during his visit to Hungary, and which serve to protect peace and Christian values, must be carried forward and strengthened.
The voice of those who speak for peace and not war and who are on the side of normality − be it the role of marriage or the family − against those who profess the principles of gender ideology must be carried forward and strengthened
- he underlined.
Miklós Soltész believed that if we can strengthen each other on these issues, we can be sure that normality will come to Western Europe as well - he said, adding that in this regard it is clear today that we must give strength to the peoples living in the West.
Speaking about the renovation of the 270-year-old St. Mary's Church and the monastery next to it, the State Secretary said: the improvements were made with almost one hundred million forints thanks to the fact that the local parliament member, the local government and the German minority local government were able to cooperate well with the government, which in three phases supported the investments.
János Hargitai (KDNP), the region's parliamentary representative, recalled: it was exactly three hundred years ago, in 1723, that the Order's parliament created an article of law, thanks to which, after the expulsion of the Turks, German settlers were able to arrive in the depopulated areas - including Máriakeménd - who, a generation later, built today's standing church.
The representative expressed his hope that as a result of the cooperation shown in the current works, the interior of the church can also be renovated in the future.
On the website of the Pécs Diocese, it was written that the Roman Catholic church in Baranyai, which has a significant German community and is located between Pécs and Mohács, has undergone continuous renewal over the past two years with the support of the government, as well as donations, tenders and the German municipality. .
During this time, the building received a new tile roof and windows, underwent a complete exterior renovation, and the baroque monastery next to the church, which currently serves as a pilgrim's accommodation, and the nearby park were also renovated.
The history of the Máriakeménd shrine goes back to the 1740s, when the Blessed Virgin Mary appeared to five little girls in this place, and then many miraculous healings and prayer hearings took place in the same place. On the site of a medieval church, the baroque-style church that is still standing today was built in 1753, and for many decades it was mainly a place of farewell for the believers of Baranya and Tolna of German nationality - it can be read on the website of the bishopric.
MTI
Photo: pecsiegyhazmegye.hu