Cardinal Péter Erdő, archbishop of Esztergom-Budapest, celebrated a Holy Mass in St. Stephen’s Basilica in Budapest on the 20th August, the feast of King St. Stephen, the founder of Hungary. The homily was delivered by Bishop Tibor Berta, military ordinary of Hungary. The basilica was packed and thousands of people watched the ceremony on a projector in St. Stephen’s Square in front of the basilica.
The Mass was concelebrated by Archbishop Balázs Bábel of Kalocsa-Kecskemét, Archbishop György Udvardy of Veszprém, Archbishop Metropolit Fülöp Kocsis, the members of the Hungarian Catholic Bishops’ Conference (HCBC), László Böcskei, bishop of Oradea, and Jozef Haľko, auxiliary bishop of Bratislava.
At the beginning of the Holy Mass, Cardinal Péter Erdő urged the faithful to “pray especially for our homeland, our people and peace in the world.” He also said that when he asked the military ordinary of Hungary, Bishop Tibor Berta, to give the homily at the beginning of the year, he could not have known that “his person and position would take such a special topicality” because of the war in neighbouring Ukraine.
“Today we are grateful for our past, the life of our nation and pray for our future, our destiny in the making” – highlighted Cardinal Péter Erdő, primate of Hungary on the feast of our first holy king.
"Let today’s celebration be a source of strength for us. Let it inspire trust in the God of providence, in the intercessory love of King Saint Stephen and the Lady of Hungary!” – concluded the Cardinal his welcome speech.
In his sermon, Bishop Tibor Berta highlighted the most important achievements and innovations of King Stephen’s reign. He said: his creation has stood the test of time. In his words, King Stephen was a man who knew how to pray, accepted the reign of God (Thy kingdom come) and became its bearer."
After the Holy Mass, a musical prayer service was held, at the end of which Cardinal Péter Erdő gave a blessing with the relic of the Holy Right to the faithful inside the basilica and stepped outside to bless the faithful praying there as well.
The celebratory Mass was attended by Katalin Novák, president of Hungary and her husband István Veres, Tamás Sulyok, president of the Constitutional Court, András Zs. Varga, president of the Curia, Anikó Lévai, wife of Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, and Kristóf Szalay-Bobrovniczky, minister of defence.
Photo: József Csapó