On Thursday February 28, 2013, following the invitation of the Holy Spirit University of Kaslik (USEK), the Prime Minister of Hungary, His Excellency Mr. Viktor Orban, gave a conference entitled “The Challenges of Christian Europe”. The following guests attended this event: the Minister of Information, Mr. Walid Al Daouk, representing the Lebanese Prime Minister, Mr. Najib Mikati; Bishop Boulos Rouhana, representing the Maronite Patriarch, Mar Bechara Boutros Al Rai; USEK President, Reverend Father Hady Mahfouz, and an elite group of ministers and ambassadors, in addition to members of the University Council.
The USEK President, Rev. Fr. Hady Mahfouz, welcomed the Prime Minister of Hungary and stated that the conference strengthened ties between the University and Hungary. He added: “Those same ties were strongly bound in the first week of last October, when I had the honor to accompany His Beatitude Patriarch Mar Bechara Cardinal Boutros Rai on a trip to Hungary…I was astonished by the exquisite beauty of the country, by that land where the beauty of scenery reflects the great values of the people.” He expressed gratitude to The Prime Minister, for his invaluable hospitality. He ended, “Finally, I would like to highlight a blissful realm I discovered in Hungary during my visit, a greatness that lies in the heritage of the country’s ancestors who marked Europe with a Christian heritage.”
H.E. Mr. Orban gave a lecture on the challenges of Christian Europe and he expressed his delight to have the opportunity to visit both Lebanon and USEK; the latter which is linked with its Hungarian partner institution The Pázmány Péter Catholic University.
He declared, “Even if it is not identical to the problems experienced by Lebanon, the peoples of Europe, including Hungarians, are nowadays nevertheless preoccupied with similar problems.”
H.E. Mr. Orban added that the series of demonstrations and strikes within Europe had raised many questions: “How could the dream that meant a united Europe for every single one of us have gone so wrong? How did Europe lose its competitiveness? A power shift is taking place in the world, which makes it impossible for the post-crisis world, including Europe, to be the same as it was before the crisis. This is why reforms are not enough; Hungary needs complete renewal.”
He went on to say “Whenever someone talks about a prolonged crisis in Europe, it is always necessary to clarify the perspective of this. You should not expect me to take a rigorous theological, philosophical or scientific approach… I am a “doer” - a person that finds politics a challenge.”
The Prime Minister of Hungary stressed that “…the prolonged European crisis is the outcome of a decline that has been present on the Continent for quite some time.” The reason behind this is that all concepts have become detached from the foundations of Christianity, and Europe has begun to feel ashamed of its roots. This is why Christianity and the roots of European tradition are not mentioned in the new European pacts and memorandums.
He continued: “If an Islamic country were to begin to feel ashamed because of the teachings of the Koran, they would deserve to feel the anger of the rest of the Islamic countries.” According to him, in Europe, people have become detached from their Christian values.
He stated: “In the meantime, Europe’s population is continually decreasing. Europe, which is abandoning its Christian roots and gradually ageing, has become like an individual, who, according to the well-known Christian teaching has built a house on sand. The flood came and hit the building, which is now at the point of collapse. This flood was only, in part, caused by Europe, but Europe only has itself to thank for how it is hardly capable of enduring the flood… Perhaps a united Europe representing Christian values might never have allowed certain countries to fall into the trap of debt slavery.”
He also quoted Robert Schuman: “There will either be a Christian Europe or no Europe at all”, and he added: “ We think that we, politicians, who have been placed by God in this struggle to safeguard Europe, are now entrusted with the task of restoring a deep Christian moral meaning to our values that have been overused and become empty.”
Finally, he concluded: “The renewal of Europe in the spirit of Christian values requires a political culture, a personal spirituality and behavior, governance and ethic that are defined and determined by the teaching of Christianity. Let us walk on our common path, our very own path, dear brothers!
Finally, Rev. Fr. Hady Mahfouz presented the book Asi-l-Hadath Lebanon: History of a grotto, published by the Holy Spirit University of Kaslik, to H.E. Mr. Orban.