Prime Minister Viktor Orbán travelled to the Vatican

On Friday in Rome, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán paid his last respects at the bier of Cardinal Karl-Joseph Rauber, former apostolic nuncio to Budapest, Bertalan Havasi, the Prime Minister’s press chief informed the Hungarian news agency MTI.

Members of the Hungarian delegation included Zoltán Balog, Pastoral President of the General Synod of the Reformed Church in Hungary and Tristan Azbej, State Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade responsible for the programmes helping persecuted Christians, the press chief reported.

He added that Hungary and Hungarian churches had much to thank for the late cardinal’s church diplomacy support.

Cardinal Karl-Josef Rauber died on 26 March, aged 88. From 1997 until 2003, he was apostolic nuncio to Hungary and Moldova. He was created a cardinal by Pope Francis in 2015.