Department for External Church Relations
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DECR chairman meets with Hungary’s Deputy Prime Minister Zsolt Semjén
June 20, 2019 – Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk, head of the Moscow Patriarchate department for external church relations (DECR) has met with Hungary’s Deputy Prime Minister Zsolt Semjén.
Present at the meeting from the DECR were Archimandrite Philaret (Bulekov), DECR vice-chairman, and Deacon Andrey Titushkin, DECR secretariat for the far abroad.
From the Hungarian side there were Mr. Péter Pál Harrach, leader of the fraction of the Fidesz ruling party, Mr. Norbert Attila Konkoly, Hungarian ambassador to Russia, Ms. Lilióza Szilágyi, Hungarian embassy’s attache for politics and energetics, and other officials.
Welcoming the high guest, Metropolitan Hilarion noted that he had been acquainted with him for already many years: “When I was a bishop in Hungary, you occupied the post of state secretary for religion. We often met and talked about various matters concerning the Hungarian diocese of the Russian Orthodox Church”. He said that he had been deeply attracted to Hungary ever since.
His Eminence said that the Russian Church give a high value to the position taken by the Hungarian Prime minister Victor Orban on many items on today’s agenda, in particular, the protection of and real help to Christian in the Middle East.
Mr. Zsolt Semjén, in his turn, conveyed to Metropolitan Hilarion best wishes from Hungarian Prime Minister Victor Orban and the Catholic Archbishop of Budapest, Cardinal Peter Erdo. He pointed to the high level of Hungarian-Russian relations and importance of further development of ties between the two countries and peoples.
During the talk, the interlocutors exchanged opinions concerning a number of problems including the church situation in Ukraine.
In conclusion of the talk, the sides exchanged tokens of the meeting.
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