HOLY FATHER WELCOMES NEW AMBASSADOR FROM HUNGARY

VATICAN CITY, OCT 24, 2002 (VIS) - The Holy Father this morning welcomed Gabor Erdody, Hungary's new ambassador to the Holy See, and in his talk to him in French, highlighted the progress that Hungary made after "the painful ruptures caused in the last century by two world wars and the dark years of communist power."

The Pope also recalled Hungary's long ties with the Apostolic See, noting that "during the Jubilee Year (Hungary) solemnly celebrated the millennium of the foundation of the Nation and its Baptism under King Stephen I, an exceptional occasion to show national unity and to recall how it drew from its religious roots the strength to build a society where everyone is recognized and respected, and has the possibility of participating in the country's democratic life."

"Hungary is engaged," remarked the Pope, "in a great movement of reform and rebuilding the life of the nation in all its components. Among these is the family, the basic cell of social life, which must be supported and helped, especially when economic difficulties attack the most deprived among them." He mentioned the Church's contributions to helping society in general and families in particular.

John Paul II affirmed that "the future of a people is prepared in the attention it gives to the youngest and to their education. It is especially necessary to transmit to youth the civic, moral and spiritual values that have forged the soul of the Hungarian people over generations, while preparing them to live in a world that is open and secularized, and marked by individualism and an attraction for material goods."

The Pope then turned to Hungary's "renewed economic, political and cultural ties with all of its European neighbors," noting its candidacy for future membership in the European Union. The Pope praised the "prospect of enlargening the Union" and re-establishing European unity, "so long shattered by the Yalta partition and the closing by the Soviet bloc. The free circulation of goods, the dialogue of cultures and the exchange of spiritual riches among nations, these alone can help vanquish fears."

He dedicated remarks to Hungary's sensitivity to minorities, be they Hungarians who live and work abroad or immigrants who come to Hungary to work. Care must be given in all instances, he underscored, to give immigrants the best possible life and to give them "attention and respect."

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