On the occasion of the 60th anniversary of his ordination to the priesthood, retired county bishop Lajos Pápai celebrated a diamond mass on Sunday at the Assumption Cathedral in Győr.
Prime Minister Viktor Orbán also took part in the thanksgiving mass, and in 2015 he awarded the Grand Cross of the Hungarian Order of Merit (civil division) to Lajos Pápai, who was 75 at the time. The Prime Minister's wife, Anikó Lévai, and Deputy Prime Minister Zsolt Semjén were also present at the Holy Mass.
Győr county bishop András Veres, president of the Hungarian Catholic Bishops' Conference (MKPK), spoke in his welcome speech about how, according to the psalms, Pope Lajos Pápai received the gift of long life from God, which "God has topped off with the gift that he has been able to serve the Church of Christ for 60 years, which this during this time, the storms of life have tried me several times".
In his commemorative speech, he emphasized that in 2003 they fought for the survival of church schools, which Lajos Pápai bravely led.
Apostolic Nuncio Michael Wallace Banach emphasized in his greeting at the beginning of the Holy Mass that Pope Francis assures Pope Lajos of his gratitude and fatherly closeness on the occasion of his diamond jubilee.
Archbishop Csaba Ternyák of Eger emphasized in his homily that a priest with a diamond mass was "polished to be bright, transparent and sparkling" by the trials, joys and sufferings of life.
"Sixty years of service was not a triumphal march, the hardness and purity of a diamond were also necessary, which he practiced and still lives today in his daily practice," the archbishop praised the activities of the retired county bishop.
Before the priestly blessing of the diamond mass, Pope Lajos Pápai thanked all those who helped his vocation with their lives, work, deeds and prayers.
The Holy Mass was attended by Cardinal Péter Erdő, Archbishop of Esztergom-Budapest, Zoltán Balog, Pastoral President of the Synod of the Hungarian Reformed Church, János Szemerei, Bishop of the Western Lutheran Church District, priests of the Győr Diocese, as well as city and county politicians and heads of institutions.
Lajos Pápai was born on September 6, 1940 in Győr. He graduated from the high school of the Premontre order in Keszthely, today's János Vajda High School. On June 21, 1963, he was ordained a priest in Veszprém, and in 1969 he obtained a doctorate in theology in Budapest and in 1975 in Strasbourg in religious studies.
He was a theology teacher in Szeged between 1975 and 1977, then a spiritual teacher at the Central Priest Education Institute in Budapest. In 1982, he became a bishop's councilor, then between 1985 and 1991 he was a parish priest at the Regina Mundi parish in Veszprém.
Lajos Pápai was appointed on March 18, 1991 by II. Pope János Pál consecrated him as the chief pastor of the Diocese of Győr, and then on April 27 of the same year as a bishop. From 1995, he was the chairman of the MKPK School Committee, and from September 2005 to 2010, he was the vice-chairman of the bishop's faculty. Honorary citizen of Győr since 2013.
In 2015, at the age of 75 - according to the requirements of the church code - he resigned from the office of chief pastor. Pope Francis accepted his resignation, and on May 17, 2016, he appointed András Veres, then bishop of Szombathely, as his successor.
MTI
