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He drew attention to the fact that the wisdom and prayers of the Order of Saint Benedict had taken root and begun to sprout in Tihany already before King Stephen, and indicated that there was much to learn from the monks of Tihany about survival, and also about starting over. He recalled that attempts had been made three times during the course of history to wipe the Benedictines off the face of the Earth, but each time they had found each other again, and had rebuilt their spiritual home, and also its stone walls. From among the Turkish, Josephinist and communist closures and persecutions, the Benedictine abbey found it hardest to stand back on its feet after the latter. After all, “the communists know neither God, nor man, nor deed of foundation,” he stressed, adding that “it wasn’t so long ago, we would do well to keep this in mind.”
The Tihany Peninsula became a peaceful and fruitful meeting place for East and West already a thousand years ago. Together with Anastasia, wife of Andrew I, founder of the church, came oriental priests, settling down among these sacred hills where they lived, worked, prayed and converted together with western Benedictine monks, he said, observing that it would be good if Europe’s present lords – causing division, fanning the flames of war, bandying sanctions about – feasted their eyes on Tihany.
Mr Orbán described Tihany as a sacred hill of the Hungarians. The royal crypt here is the only Árpád Era burial site surviving in its original state, the grave of King Andrew I, he said, and then also recalled that at the end of October 1921, Charles IV, the last Hungarian king, too, had spent his last days in Hungary in this building before being forced into exile for good.
He said in the past few years “we have refurbished more than three thousand churches, and have built two hundred new churches in the Carpathian Basin.” This is a success, appreciation and support for the religious world, but all Hungarians have reason to be proud of the fact that we appreciate our past, the Prime Minister stressed.
He highlighted that Christianity was a culture and civilisation all at once, it lived in us, and culture was the reality of everyday life. Christian culture gives us guidance amidst the contradictions of life. It defines our concept of justice and fairness, of relationships among people, including the relationship between man and woman, of family, of success, of work, and of integrity.
The Prime Minister pointed out that we Hungarians were Europeans and Christians, and so we could not not concern ourselves with the fact that today the very foundations of European life were under attack.
They want us not to be who we are, in fact, they want us to become something we do not want to be. They want us to mix together with people coming from different worlds, to mix up traditional gender roles, and on top of it all, they would even mix us up in a losing war. “Instead of the order of creation, mixing things up, muddling things, the signs of a new anarchy, a new Babel salute us from all around,” Mr Orbán stated.
He said as well-meaning people, as members of a nation tormented by war, as peace-loving Christians, it pains us to see that a war psychosis has infected Europe. War instead of peace, killing instead of life, destruction instead of building, EU membership for a war, Mr Orbán said in summary. He highlighted that the founders of the EU were Christians, and had not invented the EU for this. As a free Christian European nation, we cannot allow others to decide about the future of Europe over our heads, the Prime Minister stressed.
In the shadow of empires, at the crossroads of civilisations, we have eventually always won our battles fought for the survival of the country, the preservation of the nation and Christian culture. Without Christianity, as our Constitution lays down, Hungary would not exist. We prevailed under this sign, and we will prevail over and over again, he underlined.
Mr Orbán recalled that in a debate of the Romanian presidential candidates, George Simion said ‘‘Now is the time for a Europe of nations, a Christian Europe, in which we will fight for our right to be European citizens.’ “We couldn’t agree more,” Mr Orbán said.
He highlighted that we lived in a shared historical fate community with the Romanians. We do not interfere with the ongoing Romanian presidential election struggle, but our message from the middle of the Carpathian Basin, from this symbolic place is that we reassure the people of Romania and their prospective president that we stand on the ground of unity and cooperation, and so we will not accept any kind of isolation attempts or political retaliation against Romania and its leaders, he stated.
He said Christianity is also the best defence against the organisation of Europe into an empire.
He mentioned that the Christian church taught us that the community closest to the individual had the possibility and responsibility to take care of its own affairs. If a family is able to provide for its own members, the state should not interfere. A country should be allowed to decide itself on the path it designates for itself, rather than its future being determined from imperial centres, he laid down.
Hungary is a diverse state, cultural and religious communities of many centuries add to its diversity and compartmentalise it, Mr Orbán pointed out. The Prime Minister said we unshakeably believe that we are all connected together by the idea of a Christian Hungary. Wherever a church stands, there is not only a past, but also a future. Wherever Christianity and patriotism reside, there is Hungary, he said.
He highlighted that in our country faith, history, statehood and culture met. The refurbished Abbey of Tihany is a shining example of that unity. A symbol which calls upon us to respect our past and to build our future, in the spirit of Christian freedom, he added.
“The Lord above us all, Hungary before everything. Come on Hungary! Come on Hungarians!” the Prime Minister said, concluding his inauguration speech.
