Prime Minister Viktor Orbán pledged the government’s continued support for the Reformed Church, speaking at a service of thanksgiving for the construction of a church in Csömör, on the outskirts of Budapest, on Reformation Day.
Orbán said Hungarians are a nation of church-builders to this day. “We can be proud of this at a time when churches are being torn down,” he added.
Orbán said that the church and the government are working together to renovate churches and build new ones, noting that in his 15 years of government, support had gone to the renovation of 3,000 churches and the construction of 130.
He added that number included the renovation of 1,124 and the construction of 47 Reformed churches.
Orbán said it is the task of the government to preserve architectural heritage and support zealous congregations.
He quoted a passage from the Constitution on recognising the role of Christianity in preserving nationhood and said Hungarians believe Christianity can sustain the whole of Europe, and even the whole the world.
Zoltán Balog, a Reformed pastor and candidate for bishop, also spoke at the service.
He said the “badge of our Christian freedom” is the certainty that man owes his existence and his survival not to some coincidence, calculation or law of nature, but to the will of God.
featured image via Zoltán Máthé/MTI
