The façade of the main church has been renewed, and the ceiling frescoes and wall paintings have been also restored.Continue reading
Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I of Constantinople arrived in Hungary from Istanbul on Wednesday afternoon. He was received at Budapest Liszt Ferenc International Airport by Deputy Prime Minister Zsolt Semjén and Cyril T. Hortobágyi, Archabbot of Pannonhalma.
The Patriarch, who was invited by the Archabbey of Pannonhalma (northwest Hungary), will stay in Hungary for six days. As an Orthodox Church leader,
the focus of his visit will be on ecumenical and inter-religious dialogue and peace-building,
the Archabbey of Pannonhalma and the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople, Hungarian Orthodox Exarchate announced.
Among other events, the Patriarch will take part in the international ecumenical conference “Seek Peace and Pursue It” at the Benedictine High School of Pannonhalma on Friday, and will meet with the clergy of the Austrian Metropolia and the Hungarian Orthodox Exarchate on Saturday. He will also visit the Saint Maurice Monastery in Bakonybél (western Hungary), on the occasion of the 1000th anniversary of the arrival of St. Gellért in Bakonybél and the 25th anniversary of the re-founding of the Benedictine monastery.
Cyril T. Hortobágyi, Archabbot of Pannonhalma (L 4) receives Bartholomew I, Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople (L 2). Photo: MTI/Miniszterelnökség/Botár Gergely
On Sunday, he will participate in a Divine Liturgy at the Saint Martin’s Basilica in Pannonhalma, presided over by the Patriarch, who will also visit the Ukrainian community in Budapest that evening. On Monday, the last day of his visit,
he will take part in the ecumenical and interfaith conference on the care of creation, Together for a Common Home, organized by Pázmány Péter Catholic University and the National University of Public Service, and will meet Hungarian public figures.
The last time Patriarch Bartholomew I visited Hungary was in September 2021, when he attended the closing mass of the International Eucharistic Congress, the so-called Statio Orbis, presented by Pope Francis in Heroes’ Square, in Budapest, the first time that the leaders of the Western and Eastern Churches were present in Hungary at the same time.
Via MTI, Featured image: MTI/Máthé Zoltán