Hungarians with a divided body can still be together in spirit - said the President of the Republic Katalin Novák on Sunday at the consecration of the new Hungarian Reformed Church in Marsden in Australia. The President of the Republic gave a speech at the church dedication service and participated in the inauguration of the renovated Hungarian House in Marsden.
Katalin Novák thanked the participants for nurturing and enriching their Hungarianness, the Hungarian language, and for passing on all this to their children in their church, church and cultural communities and especially in their families.
The family is the cradle of Hungarianness, just as the family is the cradle of our sovereignty and faith
he emphasized.
Katalin Novák reminded us that the Hungarian community came together in order to show that here in Australia there is not only a Hungarian present, but also a Hungarian future.
In Western Europe and in many parts of the world, churches are demolished, destroyed or used for purposes other than the worship of God - emphasized the President of the Republic, adding: however, Hungarians are renovating churches and building new churches.
"We are building new churches in Hungary, we are building new churches all over the Carpathian Basin"
- pointed out Katalin Novák, adding: in the last 10 years, 3,200 churches were renovated in Hungarian-inhabited areas and 200 new churches were built.
The President of the Republic said that he wanted to celebrate together with the Hungarians in Australia. "The basis of our belonging is our Hungarianness, our mother tongue, our common Christian faith, this binds us together, this gives us our belonging," he emphasized.
President of the Republic Katalin Novák delivers a speech in Marsden, Australia, at the handover of the renovated part of the building of the Hungarian Cultural and Welfare Association on October 29, 2023.
MTI/Sándor Palace/Gyula Bartos
Bishop Zoltán Balog, who preached at the service, told the public media:
the church consecrated on Sunday "was built by the sacrifices of the Hungarians here, 80 percent of which were financed by them".
He added: it was already completed in 2019, but its official handover was delayed due to the pandemic. He added that the church named "Belonging" will therefore be consecrated on the occasion of the Reformation.
He pointed out that since Hungarians live scattered around the world, it is important to keep in touch with each other and pay attention to each other. "Here you can learn that you have to make sacrifices for being Hungarian," emphasized Zoltán Balog, adding: people here are ready for this, when they teach their children Hungarian in the Hungarian Sunday school on weekends, when they pass on their culture or even travel hundreds of kilometers, so that they can pray together in their own mother tongue. "This is a touching feeling that we want to take home and share with the people at home," said Zoltán Balog.
MTI
Cover image: President of the Republic Katalin Novák gives a speech in Marsden, Australia, at the handover of the renovated part of the building of the Hungarian Cultural and Welfare Association on October 29, 2023. MTI/Sándor Palace/Gyula Bartos
