Dedication Ceremony of the Greek Catholic Museum

Our bishops dedicated the building of the Greek Catholic Museum in the presence of President Novak Katalin, religious and secular leaders and invited cultural leaders.

Besides Archbishop Kocsis Fülöp, Bishop Orosz Atanáz, Bishop Szocska Ábel and Bishop Keresztes Szilárd there were present members of the Hungarian Catholic Episcopate, Archbishop Giorgio Demetrio Gallaro, the ex-secretary of the Dikastery for the Eastern Churches, Fekete Karoly calvinist bishop, politicians , and cultural and museum professionals when the dedication of the building which includes a museum, a study house, conference room, guesthouse and restoration workshop happened. The Saint Ephraim Male Choir provided music services during the ceremony.

In his speech Archbishop Fülöp said that the Greek Catholic Museum is not only about the past but also about the present and the present community which has a past and future, too. The knowledge of the past helps us to understand the present, and the knowledge of the present determines the future. We do not expect any praise of the descendants but we do have a hope that due to our credibility our direct and late descendants will be proud of us as much as greatful we are to our ancestors.

President of Hungary, Novák Katalin said that we have the reason to celebrate beacause we can enlighten the rich Greek Catholic heritage and through it the treasures of the Hungarian christian culture. She also mentioned the proverb: „Ex Oriente Lux”, the light comes from East. Greek Catholics are important for us because they bring the Estern light to the Western Christian culture.

The director of the Greek Catholic Museum, Szabó Irén said that „220 years have passed since the foundation of the National Museum of Hungary until the foundation of the Hungarian Greek Catholic Museum. During this time the museum structure of Hungary has formed but the dedication of this building shows that this process has not been completed. We have got cultural values which are waiting to be discovered and displayed and that are worthy to enrich the cultural treasury of Hungary.

The museum’s collection includes all the artifects of Eastern Christian churches on the territory of Hungary.

The museum’s aim is to operate as a community museum in response to the challanges of the current professional expectations and modern society.”

She also told about the permanent exhibition and added that through examining the artifacts we can see the victims of the faith of the past which artworks are „Window to Eternity”.

Seszték István, the Registrar of the Greek Catholic Metropolitanate spoke about beauty in his speech. He quoted Dostoievsky who wrote „beauty saves the world” and added the thoughts of Pope John Paul II who emphasized how transfiguring and liberating beauty is and it leads us to the resource of everything, to the Holy Trinity. He added that he has no doubt that the exhibition which displays the masterpieces of faith also has an essential part in evangelization.

Archbishop Fülöp in his address said that the Christian Art can be the light of the hope in a dark and depressing world. It can also be and inspiration which shows it is possible to live a Christian life under the worst circumstances. The Greek Catholic Museum invites us to explore the richness of our denomination.

At the end of the cermony the Saint Ephraim Male Choir sang the piece composed by Bubnó Tamás for the event which was followed by a visit to the exhibitions.

Text: Király András

Photo: P. Tóth Nóra, Zadubenszki Norbert