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'Papal cross-diplomacy.' Will the Vatican support the Transcarpathian Hungarians?

Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
[REGNUM] The Pope, who does not often delight European countries with his visits, is going to Budapest for the second time. Interest in mutual contacts has intensified in the context of a special military operation in Ukraine. However, it was not without various gestures of the Vatican, issued in public space on the eve of the visit. One of them is the reception of the Ukrainian prime minister on the eve of Francis' departure to Budapest.

The upcoming visit of Pope Francis to Hungary (due to take place on April 28-30), already full of many religious and political subjects, acquired a new intrigue when it became known that on the eve of departure to Budapest, on April 27, the pontiff would receive Ukrainian Prime Minister Denis in the Vatican Shmygal. For some Catholic publications, this has become an occasion to think about "papal cross-diplomacy" in the triangle of Hungary - the Holy See - Ukraine.

There are "undercurrents" here. During the European migrant crisis of 2014-2015, the Vatican and Budapest found themselves on opposite sides. The pope welcomed migrants from North Africa and the Middle East, the Hungarian authorities did not, which gave reason to talk about strained relations between Francis and the government of Viktor Orban.

For a long time, Vatican-Hungarian relations were described precisely in this paradigm. And when Francis arrived in Budapest on a short visit in September 2021, it was positioned not as a visit to Hungary and “encouragement” of Orbán’s policies, but as the participation of the pontiff in the International Eucharistic Congress. However, then the situation began to develop in an unexpected way.

In the spring of 2022, the Catholic Church in Hungary supported the Calvinist Orbán in the parliamentary elections, and not his “democratic” opponent, the Catholic Peter Marki-Zaj. After his triumphant re-election, Orban made his first trip abroad to the Vatican, where he was received by Pope Francis. Hungarian publications reported that the prime minister invited the pontiff to pay a full visit to Hungary and received an " encouraging response."

This indicated that the "migration problem" was no longer on the agenda between the Holy See and Budapest. As Orban noted then, following a conversation with Francis, "we are conducting the largest humanitarian operation of all time, for which we receive recognition and respect all over the world," the Pope mentioned this and "urged us not to give up this good habit of ours."

Considering that the pontiff, who does not often please European countries with his visits, is going to Budapest for the second time, the question arose that in recent years he has become associated with the Hungarian prime minister. This interest has become especially acute in the context of the special military operation in Ukraine.

The Holy See and Budapest are on the same side here.

"There are only two of us left in the “peace camp”: Hungary and the Vatican," Orban said in February 2023.

"You can’t complain about the company, but you have to reckon with serious consequences." After all, the “peacekeeping position” of Pope Francis caused irritation not only among Ukrainian Catholics and Greek Catholics, but also among Western ones.

As recently emphasized by the Italian Catholic portal Il Sismografo, "Kyiv and the Vatican have a different reading of Ukrainian history, reality and specific facts in this region of Europe, which is also recorded within the Catholic world." Even more contradictions were revealed in Budapest and Kyiv.

The latter, under the conditions of the Northern Military District, significantly aggravated the situation of the Hungarian community in Transcarpathia. If earlier local Hungarians faced political pressure, now they are driven to the front to die for the ethnocratic authoritarian Kiev regime, which denies them the development of their own culture and language. At the same time, among the Transcarpathian Hungarians there is also a flock of the Holy See. According to a 2017 study, 18% of the inhabitants profess Catholicism in the region, 12.5% are Greek Catholics.

The latter belong to the Mukachesky Greek Catholic Diocese, which does not report to the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, but directly to the Pope. At the same time, according to some Ukrainian religious scholars, it is the Hungarians and Slovaks who are promoting " church separatism in order to prevent the unification of Transcarpathian Greek Catholics with the UGCC ."

At the same time, Hungary itself provides great humanitarian assistance to its “neighbours”. A year ago, she sheltered about 626,000 Ukrainian refugees. Now, according to Hungarian President Katalina Nowak, there are already about a million of them.

For small Hungary, this is a factor that causes serious challenges. The opinion that "we have seen enough of those who come to us from beyond the Carpathians, their inability to thank for help and eternal claims, we hear and read what is happening with the Hungarian minority," is shared by Hungarian Catholics and Greek Catholics .

The Vatican cannot but react to this. Apparently, therefore, changes were made to the program of the papal visit at the last moment.

"The meeting with representatives of the small Greek Catholic Church of Hungary was an unexpected addition to the pontiff’s last-minute itinerary," wrote the British Catholic portal The Tablet.

"He will visit the 200-member parish of Budapest, the Church of the Intercession of the Mother of God, a modest neighbor to the imposing Catholic church of St. Elizabeth of Hungary on the same square, where he will meet with refugees and people in need who are helped by Catholic charities."

Perhaps Francis will also say something about the situation of Hungarian Catholics and Greek Catholics in Transcarpathia. But there are also political initiatives being put forward in Budapest.

In a recent interview with the Izvestiya newspaper, Dora Duro, the vice-speaker of the Hungarian parliament, said that if the Ukrainian authorities granted territorial autonomy to the Transcarpathian region and other regions, this could be a "step in the right direction."

It is difficult to say whether the Vatican will support such a proposal, although nothing can be ruled out. He will issue various gestures into the public space. And one of those is the reception of the Ukrainian prime minister on the eve of Francis' departure to Budapest.

Of course, the pope will carefully listen to his interlocutor, the journalists, for their part, will learn about the Holy See's "concern" about the humanitarian situation and will hear calls for peace. However, in our opinion, the main partner of the pontificate of Francis was and will be not Kyiv, but Budapest - as the Pope's leading ally in the preservation of Christianity and Christian values in Europe.

April 25, 2023
Stanislav Stremidlovsky

Posted by: badanov 2023-04-26

http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=665342