Gyula Márfi, Archbishop Emeritus of Veszprém, gave an interview to the news portal Magyar Jelen at Christmas. We have bundled some statements from the much-respected head pastor that might interest our readers.
In his previous writings and interviews, he has often been critical of the current European Union and the prevailing zeitgeist in the Western world. This time, too, Márfi finds clear words: in many places, attempts are being made to make people forget the word Christmas itself and talk only about holidays. The archbishop sees the removal of Christian symbols from the public sphere, the refusal to mention the continent’s Christian roots in the EU constitution, and the imposed religious neutrality of the media and institutions as parts of a deliberate plan to marginalize or even eradicate Christianity. The generous immigration policy, whose beneficiaries are primarily Muslims, also has to do with this plan.
Asked what Hungarians could do about it, Márfi refers to a prophecy of St. Padre Pio that a beautiful bird will fly out of the Hungarian cage to bring blessings to the whole world. Not because Hungarians are superior to other peoples, but because God often chooses the little ones to accomplish something great through them.
The head pastor confirms the statement that Christian Europe can also be defended by physical means. Being Christian does not necessarily mean the unrestricted acceptance of all refugees. “We must also love the wolves – after all, God created them too – but not in the sheepfold,” says the churchman. Hungarians have 150 years of painful experience with Islam, so they are under no illusions.
According to the archbishop, gender and woke ideology are even more dangerous because they undermine Christian morality and violate natural law. Márfi finds it alarming that the Church in Germany does not take a clear position on this. He recounts his sermons in Hungarian congregations in Germany, whose priests were very grateful that a head pastor was finally bringing up Christian beliefs without any ifs, ands, or buts. The situation of the German church is “really catastrophic,” says the Hungarian Archbishop.
For them it is not important whether Jesus was born or not, but that he was ‘born in you,’ whether he rose from the dead or not, but whether he ‘rose in you.’ It is not a question of whether there is a heaven or not, but of ‘creating it around you.'”
He regrets that a significant portion of German priests bless same-sex marriages and domestic partnerships, contrary to directives from Rome:
It is very sad what is happening in Germany. I do not want to hurt them, but somehow they always fall from one extreme to the other. They have gone from Hitler and National Socialism to cosmopolitan globalism.”
“In a multicultural society, people are easily manipulated, which is ideal for big business, that wants to turn the whole earth into a huge colony without ethnic, national or religious identities, consisting only of obedient workers and consumers,” the confrontational churchman concluded, who often speaks on the conscience not only of the Germans, but also of his compatriots.
This article was originally published on our sister site Ungarn Heute.
Featured photo via Facebook/Veszprémi Érsekség