2023-07-12 09:42:15
Matraverebely-Szentkut in northern Hungary is one of the most important and well-known Marian pilgrimage sites in the country. At the weekend, around 600 Roma from 30 settlements were there on a pilgrimage that was all about Roma culture. Officially, 300,000 Roma live in Hungary, 60 percent of whom are Roman Catholic. Hungary’s Bishops’ Conference Chairman Andras Veres led the pilgrimage mass on Sunday.
Bishop Veres emphasized at the pilgrimage mass that Jesus made God’s true face known and founded a new religiosity: instead of continuing the principle of “an eye for an eye”, he also lived out merciful love towards his enemies. For the 15th time, members of the Roma ethnic group on the way to Matraverebely-Szentkut. The national shrine has medieval roots. The annual pilgrimage associated with the feast of the Visitation (2 July) was organized by the Catholic Roma and Sinti pastoral care, the “Institut Seliger Ceferino”.
According to statistics, there are 300,000 Roma living in Hungary, but according to unofficial estimates, their number reaches 800,000. Since the 1990s, the Catholic Church has made increased efforts to reach out to this minority. The “Institute of Gypsy Pastoral Care” was set up on behalf of the Hungarian Bishops’ Conference, which, in cooperation with the dioceses, 15 religious orders and civil foundations, has contact with 100 to 120 Roma settlements and supports promotion programs in 95 institutions – day homes, community houses, schools. 60 percent of the Roma are Roman Catholic.
Pope Francis had visited Hungary in April 2023; on the second day of his apostolic journey to Budapest, the capital of the country, he met members of the Roma minority, the poor and refugees at St. Elizabeth’s Church.
(cap – shh)
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