Hungarian American Coalition News, 2000 (9. évfolyam, 1-3. szám)

2000 / 3. szám

Hungarian

American

Coalition

Hungarian Millennium - One Thousand Years of Statehood

This Year of the Millennium holds special significance for 15 million Hungarians the world over. On August 20, 2000, St. Stephen's Day, a thousand years of statehood were celebrated not only in Hungary, but in neighboring countries and Western countries where more than 5 million ethnic Hungarians live. In honor of this remarkable anniversary new memorials were raised, old ones were decorated with wreaths, dozens of cities and villages received official Millennial flags in solemn ceremonies. Historic pageants, concerts, exhibits and theatrical performances abounded as the survival of a nation through its turbulent history was celebrated by Hungarians with great pomp, circumstance and joy.

In the United States many Hungarian American organizations staged well-attended celebrations, some of which are described in this Newsletter. Congressmen Frank Pallone of New Jersey, who represents over 20 thousand Hungarian-Americans, and Ernest Istook of Oklahoma, who is of Hungarian extraction, introduced the following Concurrent Resolution, which was cosponsored by 29 other House members. The House passed the resolution on October 2nd, its Senate approval is imminent at the time we publish this newsletter.

House Concurrent Resolution 400

Congratulating the Republic of Hungary on the millennium of its foundation as a state.

Whereas the ancestors of the Hungarian nation, 7 tribes excelling in horsemanship and handicrafts, settled in the Carpathian basin around the end of the 9th century;

Whereas during the next century this tribal association had accommodated itself to a permanently settled status;

Whereas the ruler of the nation at the end of the first millennium, Prince Stephen, realized with great foresight that the survival of his nation depends on its adapting itself to its surroundings by becoming a Christian kingdom and linking its future to Western civilization;

Whereas in 1000 A.D. Stephen, later canonized as Saint Stephen, adopted the Christian faith and was crowned with a crown which he requested from Pope Sylvester II of Rome;

Whereas, by those acts, Saint Stephen, King of Hungary, established his domain as 1 of the 7 Christian kingdoms of Europe of the time and anchored his nation in Western civilization forever;

Whereas during the past 1,000 years, in spite of residing on the traditional crossroads of invaders from the East and the West, the Hungarian nation showed great vitality in preserving its unique identity, language, culture, and traditions;