Invitation from Bucharest

On 12 January, Cardinal Péter Erdő, primate and archbishop of Esztergom–Budapest, celebrated a holy mass in Hungarian in Bucharest. In his homily, he expressed his hope that the 52nd International Eucharistic Congress—which will take place in Budapest in autumn—will be a spiritual blessing as well as an opportunity for Hungarians and non-Hungarians to experience the beauty of joint celebration.

The Cardinal was invited to celebrate the solemn mass by the Hungarian community of the Church of Our Lady of All Graces, also known as the church of the friars, in downtown Bucharest.

Péter Erdő highlighted that the International Eucharistic Congress—to be held in Budapest from 13 to 20 September—will offer a great opportunity for participants to pray to God ‘together and in a sacramental manner’ for the Church and for all of us to ‘be true ambassadors and missionaries of the divine life sprouting among us’. The congress invites us to pray for the renewal of personal and community life, since renewal is only possible if it stems from the miraculous way God’s grace works in souls, it is not an element that the organisers can include in their plans, the primate added. The Cardinal also said that the faithful living in Bucharest were also warmly invited to participate in the event in Budapest.

On Saturday, Péter Erdő was present at the solemn installation of the new metropolitan archbishop of Bucharest Aurel Percă in the Cathedral of Saint Joseph. The new archbishop had served as auxiliary bishop of Iaşi, and Pope Francis appointed him as successor of Bucharest’s previous archbishop Ioan Robu, who submitted his resignation in November upon reaching the age specified by the Code of Canon Law.

Cardinal Erdő said that he was happy to accept the invitation so that he could return Ioan Robu his kind gesture by making the long journey from Bucharest to Esztergom in the cold winter of 2003 to take part in his installation as archbishop. Péter Erdő underlined that, through this liturgical celebration, he wished to express the unity and fraternity of Catholics, as well as the fact that all the bishops serve the community of the faithful. He also said that he regarded the invitation to celebrate the mass in Hungarian as an honour, since his grandfather had been born in Bucharest, and his family even used to have a house there. In response to a question from MTI’s correspondent, he said that he had visited the Romanian capital several times, but this was the first time that he celebrated a holy mass there in Hungarian.

Source: MTI

Photos: Péter Tarcsay / Archdiocese of Esztergom–Budapest

The article was published on Magyar Kurír.