President Katalin Novak also participated in the consecration of the Hungarian Reformed Church in Marsden, Australia, and the opening of the Hungarian House there.
The Head of State thanked the participants for nurturing and enriching their Hungarian language, and for transmitting all of this to their children in their church, church and cultural communities, and in their families.
He spoke about the fact that the family is the cradle of Hungarianism, just as the family is the cradle of our sovereignty and our faith. He stated: The Hungarian community is united to emerge And in Australia, there is not only a galactic present, but also a galactic future.
Katalin Novak also spoke about the fact that while churches in Western Europe and in many parts of the world are being demolished or even used for purposes other than worshiping God, this is not typical of Hungarian communities.
“We are building new churches in Hungary, and we are building new churches throughout the Carpathian Basin,” he said. The President of the Republic stated that during the past ten years, 3,200 churches were renovated in areas inhabited by Hungarians, and 200 new churches were built.
Bishop Zoltan Balogh, who preached at the service, told public media that the church that was dedicated on Sunday was built with the sacrifices of local Hungarians, and 80 percent of it was funded by them. It was actually completed in 2019, but its official handover was delayed due to the pandemic. Therefore, the church bearing the name “Belonging” was dedicated on the occasion of the Reformation Day.
Balogh stressed that since Hungarians live scattered all over the world, it is important to stay in touch with each other and take care of each other. “Here you can learn that you have to make sacrifices to be Hungarian,” Zoltan Balogh emphasized, adding that people here are ready for that when they teach their children even on weekends. In Hungarian in the Hungarian Sunday School, when they transmit their culture or even travel hundreds of kilometers so that they can pray together in their mother tongue. According to the bishop, I want to take this mentality home and introduce it to my family.
The President of the Republic visited the Árpád nursing home, where only Hungarian residents live and are cared for by Hungarian nurses:
In the cover photo, President of the Republic Katalin Novak (b) and Anthony John Abbott, former Prime Minister of Australia, in Sydney on October 24, 2023. MTI/Sandor Pallotta/Gyula Bartos
