Balázs Hankó, Minister of Culture and Innovation, has reported to Pope Leo XIV on “over two hundred Hungarian programs” organized in Rome and the Vatican during the Jubilee Holy Year.
Balázs Hankó told MTI on Saturday after attending the Papal General Audience that during his consultations at the Vatican, he announced the Hungarian Government’s request that a nativity scene donated by Hungary be placed in St. Peter’s Square in 2030.
The year 2030 marks the 1,000th anniversary of the Hungarian pilgrimage house founded by King Saint Stephen, once located next to St. Peter’s Basilica.
This is the smaller nativity scene that the Vatican places in the middle of St. Peter’s Square every year during the Christmas season. The nativity scene usually comes from Italy, but in 2021, for instance, the scene was donated by Peru.
The Minister also announced that the necessary renovations to the Palazzo Falconieri, which houses the Hungarian Academy Rome, will be completed by 2027, the centenary of the cultural institute.
Regarding his participation in the audience, Balázs Hankó emphasized that he had the opportunity to thank Pope Leo XIV for the fact that “we Hungarians were able to organize more than two hundred programs during the Jubilee Holy Year, in which faith and culture came together.” He added that he had asked for the Pope’s blessing for Hungarian youth, Hungarian families, Hungarian culture, and Hungarian science, “because we are a modern Christian government, and we have always been able to organize events that are in line with our Christian values.”
The Jubilee Holy Year, opened by Pope Francis on December 24 last year, will come to a close during this Christmas season.
One of the festive Hungarian events of the year-long series of ecclesiastical and cultural programs is being held on Saturday evening at the Hungarian Academy in Rome:
Erik Mátrai and Márton Urbán’s light installation, entitled “A Thousand Years on a Common Path,” will be presented to Italian and international audiences.
Hankó recalled that Kunó Klebelsberg founded the Collegium Hungaricum in 1927, and that the institute, also known as the Hungarian Academy Rome, will celebrate its centenary in two years’ time. The Minister revealed that Pope Leo XIV had also been invited to the series of Hungarian anniversary events planned in Rome.
The head of the Ministry of Culture and Innovation was also received by Father Renzo Pegoraro, president of the Pontifical Academy for Life. The agenda included the ethical use of modern technologies in accordance with Christian principles. The delegation led by Balázs Hankó included Veronika Varga-Bajusz, State Secretary for Higher Education, Vocational and Adult Education, and Youth Affairs; Anita Kiss-Hegyi, State Secretary for Cultural Relations; and Krisztina Lantos, advisor to the Ministry of Culture and Innovation.
Hankó told MTI that there are numerous points of commonality between the Pontifical Academy for Life, which pays particular attention to the application of artificial intelligence, and the Hungarian Government’s policy in the same area.
At the Vatican institute, he reported on the joint $1 million research project between Pázmány Péter Catholic University and the Catholic University of America.
The project aims to examine the ethical issues of artificial intelligence. A new institute has also been established within the framework of the renewed Hungarian Research Network (HUN-REN), specializing in the use of modern technology in accordance with Christian principles.
Of the hundreds of programs organized in Rome and the Vatican during the Holy Year, the Minister highlighted the Hungarian Academy of Arts’ installation, still on display in the Roman Hungarian Academy building on Via Accademia. The installation was viewed by tens of millions of people in the center of the Italian capital, even if only in passing. He highlighted the thousands of young Hungarians who attended the Jubilee of Youth meeting in August, as well as the performance of organist Balázs Csapó at the Night of the Organs in Rome.
The Hungarian Academy Rome had 60,000 visitors in one year, that proves “the commitment of Hungarians to the Christian faith and culture,” said Hankó.
Via MTI, Featured image: Facebook/Hankó Balázs
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