We can become the renovated church of Europe, said President Sulyok at the reconsecration of the renovated church in Ják

We can become the renovated church of Europe, where people come to draw strength, said Tamás Sulyok, the President of Hungary, at the reconsecration ceremony of Ják’s St. George Church  (Vas County, Hungary) on Sunday.

Tamás Sulyok emphasized the need for revitalizing our communities.

We need to rebuild ourselves to each other, setting aside all obstacles, fears, uncertainties, and distrust, although this is not easy in the era of infidelity, where we lose the grace of connection, stated the President.

Tamás Sulyok said that in the world of atomization and fragmentation, where we witness the breakdown of families, erosion of communities, prevalence of loneliness, and abandonment of moral values, we yearn for sustaining communities.

People in this barrenness crave spiritual surplus, closeness to God, because faith and love can also be experienced in community, he added.

It is necessary to find ways to become 'living stones, connecting mortar,' how we can reorganize into communities again, serve each other, and radiate the good news, emphasized Tamás Sulyok, adding that grassroots organizations need to be valued, and autonomous initiatives encouraging collective thinking and action need to be supported, new communities must be encouraged to emerge.

The renovated church is not only a legacy of our ancestors, but also a manifestation of the appreciation, preservation, and nurturing of what we have inherited. It is the result of Hungarian society's cooperation - pointed out Tamás Sulyok.

He stated that we can be proud that in Hungary there is still the will, intention, and sufficient resources for the renewal of churches.
Commending the church, he said it is the adornment of Hungary and the entire Carpathian Basin. It preserves the imprint of a thousand-year-old Hungarian Christianity and, therefore, must be preserved and presented.

V. Zsolt Németh, the local Member of Parliament, said that the government, which adheres to Christian principles, strives to dedicate its attention and financial resources to what it considers good, useful, and pleasing to God based on its values.

He thanked the government for announcing a programme for the renovation of churches and including the church in Ják among the 3,700 churches that will be renewed within this framework.

In his sermon, Bishop János Székely of the Diocese of Szombathely emphasized that without faith, human life becomes barren and loses its true depth; our true values can only be preserved through struggle, and God's love surrounds us, fills us, and gives us a peace that no one can take away.

At the end of the mass, the earthly remains of the founder, Márton Nagy Jáki, were placed in the crypt of the church, and the Hungarian National Committee of ICOMOS awarded the St. George Church in Ják the ICOMOS Prize for the restoration of the former Benedictine abbey church, thorough research, and meticulous execution and restoration work.

The restoration of the St. George Church in Ják began in 2018 and was realized with over 2 billion forints of government support.