Exactly one year to the day after her visit to the Vatican last year, President Katalin Novák met Pope Francis at 9 a.m. on Friday, August 25, who received her for a private interview in his office. Since Katalin Novák speaks Spanish, the interrogation took place again this year without an interpreter, in the presence of both negotiating parties.
After the private hearing, the President of the Republic of Hungary will meet Cardinal Secretary of State Pietro Parolin and Archbishop Paul Richard Gallagher, Vatican Secretary for Intergovernmental Relations.
After a private interview between Pope Francis and Katalin Novák, the President of the Republic introduced her entourage to the Holy Father and presented the gifts. The members of the Hungarian delegation include Eduárd Habsburg-Lotharingiai, Ambassador of Hungary to the Holy See, and Father Norbert Németh, Rector of the Pontifical Hungarian Institute.
Father Norbert Nemeth, answering a question from Vatican News, said:
“President Katalin Novák presented the Holy Father with a Transcarpathian-made icon depicting the Virgin Mary with the Child Jesus, made by members of the Hungarian community in Transcarpathia with the aim that the President — immediately after her visit to Ukraine – would present this to the Holy Father.
In other words, this icon was created by those Hungarians who are suffering from the war in Ukraine and are members of the Transcarpathian Hungarian community there.
The First Lady presented the Holy Father with the album to commemorate the Pope’s April 2023 visit with colorful photos.
In a second copy of this album, the President asked the Holy Father for recommendations, which he was happy to do and which the guest, Katalin Novák, will eventually take home to Hungary. In addition, Katalin Novák also presented Pope Francis with small objects of grace from the Shrines of Hungary, along with a ceramic Dove of Peace that “rhymes” with the gift the Holy Father made to the First Lady, and that is the Holy Father’s message for this year World Day of Peace to be presented in 2022. wrote on December 8th.
This was accompanied by a bronze statue titled Messenger of Peace. So they actually gave each other the peace symbols.”
After the private hearing, the President of the Republic of Hungary met Cardinal Secretary of State Pietro Parolin, where the current issues between the two parties, in particular the war in Ukraine, were discussed.
Featured image: Katalin Novák’s Facebook page
