HIS-Press-Service, 1981 (6. évfolyam, 19-21. szám)
1981-10-01 / 21. szám
HIS Press Service No.21, October 1981 Page 6 the diocese's bishop, Dr. Imre Timkó, spoke of the origins of Marian devotion in the Eastern Church. At the beginning of his sermon, he emphasized the special significance of the festive occasion: "Let us celebrate this feast with one another on this holy Sunday, and in a spirit of thanksgiving give witness to our faith, our trust, and our love - in communion with all who, through their spiritual, moral, and financial support, have helped us achieve an important goal, namely the construction, renovation, and réadaptation of our seminary and our central diocesan office___ In his mercy, God has blessed us with the chance to carry out this external renewal. As a gift in return, he expects from us an inner, spiritual renewal of our souls. Only this can be a genuine and worthy expression of our thankfulness. " The closing celebration in the form of a Mass according to the Byzantine rite was concelebrated at Nyíregyháza by Dr. Imre Timkó and the other bishops of the same rite who were present as guests. The homily at this Mass was given by Cardinal Lékai who recalled that the two apostles of the Slavic peoples, Sts. Cyril and Methodus, whom Pope John-Paul II had not all too long ago declared - in addition to St. Benedict - as the patron saints of Europe, had also passed through Hungary on their apostolic journeys. Cardinal Lékai offered Bishop Timkó his congratulations on the completion of the construction projects and then closed his talk by saying: "I would like to express my thanks to the generous benefactors for the financial support which they provided. I would like to thank too all contributors for their great willingness to make sacrifices, and I hope and wish that the new and renovated buildings of my brothers who honor God according to the Byzantine rite will be filled with a new power of the Holy Spirit that will promote the growth and good of our Catholic Church and our Hungarian homeland." EVALUATION The fact that the entire Hungarian College of Bishops celebrated in communion with the Eastern Church the latter's latest step forward in the exercise of its unique Eastern tradition constitutes a seldom, and thus all the more welcome, occasion in the life of Hungary's Church. Ferenc Magyar, the chief editor of the Catholic weekly, "Új Ember," expressed this as follows: "When we see in the procession following the completion of the Mass of thanksgiving the bishops, priests, and faithful of both the Greek and Roman rites walking side by side in this spirit of unity..., we for the first time become fully aware of the incredible fact that, in this corner of Eastern Europe which has experienced so many stormy times and religious divisions, the children of the same father no longer let themselves be separated from one another through differences in rites." The common festivities
