The Orthodox church will on Sunday take the unprecedented step of canonizing someone already revered as a saint by Roman Catholics, amid ceremonies marking Hungary's millennium as a nation state.
Published:
22 August 2000 y., Tuesday
Constantinople Patriarch Bartolomaios I will formally announce the decision of the Orthodox bishops to canonize Stephen I -- Hungary's founding monarch -- as an Orthodox saint, Cardinal Istvan Paskai told reporters this week.
Stephen I, the ruler of Hungary between 997-1038, was canonized by the Catholic Church in 1081. During his lifetime he campaigned to convert and settle nomadic Hungarian tribes and asked to be crowned by Pope Sylvester III, setting up a Christian state here in the year 1000.
Religious fervor is expected to grip Hungary from Sunday, when nationwide celebrations begin to mark the 1,000th anniversary of the foundation of their nation.
Precious relics -- fragments of the skull of Saint Stephen I (969-1038 AD) and his right hand -- arrived earlier this week on loan from a monastery in Dubrovnik, Croatia, where they have been kept for at least the past 450 years.
And after a break of 62 years, a Papal legate will attend the celebrations. Cardinal Angelo Sodano, representing Pope John Paul II, will read out a message from the pope to the Hungarian people.
Some 67 percent of Hungary's population of 10 million are Catholics, with only a minority in the Orthodox church. There was a rejuvenation of all religions when multi-party democracy was restored in Hungary in 1990, following 43 years of persecution under the Soviet satellite regime.
St. Stephen's relics will be carried in a procession through the streets of Budapest on Sunday and into the parliament building where the monarch's crown is on display.
Šaltinis:
Central Europe Online
Copying, publishing, announcing any information from the News.lt portal without written permission of News.lt editorial office is prohibited.
The most popular articles
The fate of blue fin tuna hangs in the balance this week as a complete ban on the trade is debated by MEPs.
more »
A $100 million pledge from the Government of Japan has helped to secure the funding base and launch the operational phase of two new climate programs supporting forest management and renewable energy investments in developing countries.
more »
Europeans quite happy with their personal situation, but less satisfied with economic and social climate in their country.
more »
Spain wishes to “make as much progress as possible” to ensure the EU becomes party to the Council of Europe's Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms soon, according to the Spanish Minister for Justice, Francisco Caamaño, at today's opening of a seminar on the challenges and possibilities arising from the Treaty of Lisbon coming into force.
more »
According to Belarusian tradition, a stork brings good fortune to the village it settles in while in western culture the stork is commonly associated with childbirth.
more »
The World Bank Board of Directors today approved an additional financing credit to the Republic of Moldova in the amount of US $20 million for the Social Investment Fund II Project.
more »
The Spanish Health and Social Policy Minister, Trinidad Jiménez, and the European Commissioner for Employment, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities, Vladimir Spidla, addressed the press in Madrid on the launch of the European Year for Combating Poverty and Social Exclusion 2010.
more »
The European Commission and the Spanish Presidency of the EU will tomorrow launch the 2010 European Year for Combating Poverty and Social Exclusion.
more »
Smoking at a restaurant like this one in Spain could soon be a thing of the past. Spanish lawmakers want to stub out the habit in public places like bars and restaurants. But it's an unpopular proposal in a country where around 30 percent of the population smoke.
more »
As President of the European Economic and Social Committee, I would like, on behalf of all the Committee's members, to express my sympathy to the victims of the earthquake in Haiti.
more »