Hungarian President Katalin Novak has stepped down amidst escalating pressure following her controversial decision to pardon a man convicted of concealing sexual abuse in a children’s home. Novak’s resignation, announced on Saturday, follows public outcry and calls for accountability from opposition figures. Novak, known as a staunch ally of conservative Prime Minister Viktor Orban, faced Read more
Pope Francis has returned from touring Hungary, a bastion of European conservatism, where his mixed messaging is seemingly at odds with national sentiment. At a Mass celebrated Sunday in Budapest, His Holiness called on the Hungarian government — led by Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and President Katalin Novák, both Christian, neither Catholic — to loosen Read more
Hungary’s prime minister, Viktor Orban, says immigration threatens Christianity. At the start of his European Parliamentary elections campaign, Orban has made it clear he thinks an influx of foreigners has put national traditions including religion in jeopardy. He says allowing more immigrants into the country has led to the “virus of (Islamic) terrorism”. Those who Read more
Hungarian Bishop, Laszlo Kiss-Rigo is warning that Pope Francis has gotten the refugee situation wrong. “They are not refugees. This is an invasion,” Kiss-Rigo told the Washington Post. The bishop says he is in total agreement with the Prime Minister. The pope “does not know the situation”, says the bishop of a predominantly Catholic country. “They Read more
Hitler salutes and the chanting of Nazi slogans at migrants from the Middle East has pained German Cardinal Reinhard Marx. Marx, the President of the German Bishops’ conference said he felt physically pained seeing protesters making the gestures and shouting the chants. In an interview with Der Spiegel magazine, Marx labelled the emergence of a new xenophobia in Read more
Family-oriented countries like Hungary, Poland and the Philippines are being targeted by population control groups because of their beliefs and pro-life culture, says Human Life International. HLI president Father Shenan Boquet said the groups that take issue with pro-family countries have a “perception that you must lessen the number of children and introduce contraception, sterilisation Read more
A Hungarian church leader has welcomed the fulfillment of state pledges to restore church properties to religious communities six decades after they were confiscated by the country’s communist regime. “This is the only area of church-state relations which has gone well in recent years. The process was transparent and well managed,” said Zoltan Tarr, general Read more