VATICAN CITY, DEC 18, 2004 (VIS) - Ferenc Gyurcsany, prime minister of Hungary, was received today by the Pope who, noting Hungary's entrance this year into the European Union, told him he was "confident that your country will make a specific contribution to the future of this Continent by drawing on the rich patrimony of cultural and spiritual values which, from the time of St. Stephen, have formed the soul of the Hungarian people."
"In this regard," the Holy Father continued, "I think especially of the young people of your nation, and the importance of their training in sound moral and civic values. This is an area of particular concern to the Church as she seeks to contribute to the common good in the fulfillment of her religious and educational mission. I am therefore most appreciative of the series of juridical agreements entered into by Hungary and the Holy See in recent years, particularly the 'Agreement on Financing the Activities of Public Service and other Religious Activities undertaken in Hungary by the Catholic Church'."
John Paul II said that that Agreement "defines in a juridically binding way the role of the Church in an important area of Hungarian society, with due respect for the human rights to religious freedom and to education." He said he hoped that "a spirit of constructive cooperation" would continue to mark the working relationship between the two.
AC/PRIME MINISTER/HUNGARY VIS 20041220 (250)
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