Dr. Csaba Hende Represented Hungary in Paris

The Christ Oratory struck up in the performance of the Hungarian Radio Symphonic Orchestra on 22nd of October at the Church of the Invalids named after St. Louis, on the occasion of the 200th anniversary of the Hungarian composer’s birth. Dr. Csaba Hende represented the Republic of Hungary at the concert, which was broadcasted live by the French National Music Channel (France Musique).

Next day, 23rd of October Dr. Csaba Hende delivered a speech at the Hungarian Catholic Mission in Paris. The Minister said thanks to the heroes of 1956, to those, who sacrificed their lives for freedom, and to those, who – as Jenő Sujánszky – fought with arms, and then fled abroad to escape retaliation, and cherished for many decades symbolically – and in Paris through the Triumphal Arch in reality – the flame, which they brought from home.

“Thanks are due to them for having carried out, and for carrying out today as well St. Stephen’s commands: to keep the Hungarian and Christian traditions" – said the Minister.

Dr. Csaba Hende thanked also the “noble French people" for the shelter given, and for the home made for the refugees. Finally, the Defence Minister expressed his gratitude for the prayers said during the festive holy mass for the soldiers; for the Hungarian soldiers, who together with the French ones fight for freedom and democracy, for the Western world, even today – among others in the French-run military hospital in Kabul.

At the end of the ceremony the Defence Minister and the representatives of the Foreign Representation of Hungary in Paris and the Hungarian émigré organisations, laid a wreath at the memorial tablet of Prince Primate József Mindszenty, which was erected in 1992 in the Hungarian Catholic Mission. Late in the afternoon a commemoration was held in the Hungarian Institute of Paris.

(MoD Press Office)