Faith in God, closeness to nature, respect for nature, mutual solidarity and community" are the values that have helped Hungarians for a thousand years, said Gyopáros Alpár Rábaszentmiklóson.
The soul of Hungarians lives in the countryside, primarily in the villages and small towns, because unfortunately it is almost only here that the Christian values with which the Hungarians were able to survive for a thousand years in the Carpathian basin live, said the government commissioner responsible for the development of modern settlements of the Prime Minister's Office on Saturday in Győr -Counties of Moson-Sopron in Rábaszentmiklós.
Alpár Gyopáros, who is also the region's Fidesz parliamentary representative, explained at the blessing of the renovation of the Árpád-era round church of St. Nicholas:
"faith in God, closeness to nature, and therefore respect for nature, mutual solidarity and community" are the values that have helped Hungarians for a thousand years.
He added: even within the villages, in terms of the built heritage, the soul of Hungarians resides mostly in the churches, so they must be taken care of.
He said that there are nearly 70 small settlements in Rábokzöz and Sorokóalja, 40 of whose churches have been renovated in the last ten years at a cost of more than one billion forints.
In addition, as part of the Hungarian village program, over the past five years, parishes have been renovated in more than 60 settlements - to a lesser extent parishes, to a greater extent Roman Catholic parishes - also at a cost of around one billion forints.
According to Alpár Gyopáros, "we live in a time when our values based on Christian roots must be kept in mind every day, because they are unfortunately under attack in Hungary and in the world".
"If we want to protect these values, then we cannot be satisfied with these church and parish renovations, but we must continue to protect and take care of our villages and their inhabitants and continue on this path unwaveringly"
- He told.
Mayor Szabolcs Németh said that for the renovation of the round church from the Árpád era, they won a 15 million forint grant from the Hungarian Village program, which was supplemented by one and a half million forints from the Diocese of Győr.
The church tower was renewed and the shingles were painted. The works were carried out by specialists from the surrounding settlements, he added. The mayor noted: the church is already a worthy stop for the Sacravelo bicycle pilgrimage route network and he is taking the initiative to add it to the Győr-Moson-Sopron county treasury.
MTI
Featured image: The renovated Árpád-era round church of St. Nicholas in Rábaszentmiklós on the day of handover and blessing, April 13, 2024. MTI/Csaba Krizsán
