It is clearly a denial of traditional Christian values ​​combined with gross terror. Zoltán Osztie said hirado.hu The parish priest of the Belvárosi Nagytemplom reacted to Charlie Hebdo's caricature insulting the Virgin Mary and insulting Christians. The paper also asked the father, who was awarded the Mindszenty medal, about the reception of the idea of ​​a cross to be placed on the pedestal of the Statue of Liberty.

- Within a month, two serious anti-Christian attacks took place in France: weeks after the scandalous Olympic opening ceremony, timed after Assumption Day, a cartoon was published in the satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo, depicting the statue of Our Lady of Lourdes as having monkeypox and containing unquotable insults. What could be the reason and meaning of this series of provocations?

- It is obviously a denial of traditional Christian values, combined with gross terror. The purpose of this is to disintegrate traditionally Christian societies and push them into anarchy. were laid by the ideologists and philosophers Frankfurt School, active since 1923 It reveals their unconcealed goals, for example, when they talk about "united Europe" or about creating a new world religion. To answer your question: already in the early decades of the Frankfurt School, they recognized that there is only one real, main obstacle to everything, and that is the Catholic Church. That is why we are witnessing and suffering from a series of systematic, structured and tendentious attacks. The steps of this were developed point by point by the theoreticians of the mentioned school of philosophy.

"What steps are you thinking of?"

– These were the sexual revolution in American universities in the 1960s, then came the attacks on the church and the clergy, feminism, the making of church schools impossible, and later migration, gender ideology, and the list could go on. It is precisely the terror practiced by fascism and communism. All three terrorist systems have the same root, the same goals and the same means.

– What are the common features?

- At the root of German fascism, Muscovite Communism and liberal aspirations for world domination are all denial of God, all three ideologies are "godless". The goal of all of them is to gain world domination, and their means are a series of hateful, anti-human attacks.

- It is strange that the target of the latest attack was the Virgin of Lourdes - a popular pilgrimage site throughout France. What could be the reason for this choice?

– Lourdes is such an emblematic place for the entire, universal Catholic Church, where Mary also appears as an ideal image; and the relationship with him is one of the pillars of the Christian community. An interesting parallel to this, for example, is the huge altarpiece in Turin, on which the spirit of St. John Bosco (Italian Catholic priest, founder of the Salesian order, also referred to as Don Bosco - ed.) appears. The large, tossing ship in the picture is the ship of the church; the ship is often used as a symbol of the church. The ship is moored to two pillars, one of which shows the sacrament of the altar, the other the symbol of the Virgin Mary. These are the two pillars that have held Christianity together for two thousand years. Thus, the attack against the Virgin Mary is directed against the church, and against the ideal image it represents, as well as against her femininity and motherhood.

"For what, in whose name is this attack taking place?"

– Here we are facing a perverse ideology that tramples on human dignity, but demands its respect.

- Indeed, we often hear the expression that some groups act in the name of "the people", for example, it has somehow become fashionable.

- It has become a key question nowadays, and it is no longer a religious question, but a universal one, the question of anthropology: "Who is man?" Because they, who represent lies, terror, and hatred, want to smear all of this on us. However, Charlie Hebdo issues a certificate of poverty just like the sponsors of the Olympics in France.

- Perhaps this kind of evasion is that the multifold increase in anti-Christian acts, for example, is not attributed to the increased number of fanatical Islamists, but to the Arab-Israeli war.

- This phenomenon hides the fact that for them - and the liberal press is at the forefront - reality and truth do not matter, but it all depends on how we communicate. They associate things that have nothing to do with each other. For example, what does gender ideology have to do with the Olympics? They use man himself and the pillars of social life as tools of their attack. I would also start with the three pillars of Christian identity, which establish the self-identity of man and Christian society.

"Which are the three pillars?"

- Even the ancients formulated this trinity: God, home, family. And here we experience the attack on these three points: denial of nation-states, hatred of religion and Christianity, and family life are the targets.

Statue of Liberty cross

They attack with incredible passion the mere idea of ​​a cross to be placed on the pedestal of the Statue of Liberty (Source: National Hauszmann Program)

- Perhaps the hysteria about the cross planned for Gellért Hill can also be placed in this system. Doesn't this seem a bit disproportionate?

– Not if we also include this event in this system of connections. It is clear that God himself, and everything related to God, Jesus, and Christianity, evokes immeasurable hatred and rejection from them. In between, the question is formulated: can we entrust the leadership of our communities, the state, and the country to those who can only appeal to hatred? Well, returning to the cross, it is a particularly prominent symbol - not coincidentally a sign of the Christian community from its origins. And not only the cross, but also the crucifix. This sign is a sign of Christianity because it wants to draw attention to the fact that the way of life of love takes a lot of people. God approaches us in this way in Jesus, that he gives everything and gives everything until his last breath.

"Why does this cause so much resentment?"

- The kind of world-dominant, hateful ideology that tends to deny even man - because it does not accept man for what he is - is of course enraged by any reference to the existence of love. The cross has a special power from this point of view as well - and thus they face each other because of the denial of the hated symbol: "Don't let this sign be there anymore!"

– In addition to open hatred, more insidious attacks also hit the Gellert Cross plan.

- For example, Ferenc Gyurcsány said that Hungary is not Christian. Of course, he is not right, because - although Christian religiosity is no longer present as it was in previous decades, it is "worn out", but the public consensus on moral values, the construction of society, is still Christian in its structure. In Hungary, it is still evident that "God, home, family" and that everything is based on the Christian revelation. And that's what they're trying to do now. These attacks are aimed at eradicating the still existing Christian roots and existing public consensus.

– If we examine Christian values, in our country you were the president of the Association of Christian Intellectuals, KÉSZ, between 1996 and 2006. The country has come a long way from the hopelessly drifting period around 2006

- Whatever ideology, party, government comes to power, we always fulfill our mission. Only the framework and the opportunities are different, for example, in a Gyurcsány era, where we carried out the work of the KÉSZ with completely different opportunities, or I carried out my own pastoral duties, as during an Orbán government, which recognized a partner in the Christian churches. During the Gyurcsány era, the government had no family policy at all. And the government made people's everyday lives difficult and impossible with gas prices and visitor fees. But we have to live with criticism, whatever ideology or government comes to power. That is why we started the Signs of the Times program at the time - based on critical solidarity. So we fulfill the mission, even if there are no partners for this, and no matter how difficult the situation in Europe is today.

"Speaking of which: how is the situation in Europe today?"

– For example, the German church has long since ended; based on the prevailing conditions there, we can say that it is no longer a Catholic church, it is not based on the apostolic tradition and faith. So, in the midst of the current decadence, Hungary and the Hungarian government can still be seen as defenders of values.

– How can a single country, without an outstanding capital strength and economic background, take on this mission and resist the pressure?

- Historian Imre Molnár explains in his book Sanctity and mission arising from sacrifice that the pillar and essence of the sense of mission, self-interpretation, and self-awareness of Hungarians has always been what our song poetry also reflects: that Hungary is the protective bastion, protective shield and protective wall of Christianity. These three pictures show the essence of Hungarian self-interpretation. Obviously, this is what we still expect today, and the entire Hungarian nation should confirm this within itself, that we have a mission in Europe. Of course, everything that goes against this, the abuses that are raised so much, must be addressed in the spirit of critical solidarity. But essentially, the Hungarian nation and the government are moving in the right direction.

hirado.hu

Featured image: Parish priest Zoltán Osztie presents a thanksgiving mass in the Belvárosi Nagyboldogasszony Főplébánia church (Photo: MTI/Péter Lakatos)