The day of mourning will “express the nation’s gratitude for the Holy Father and the nation’s grief”, he said on the official government website kormany.hu.
Semjén, who also leads the co-ruling Christian Democrats, said he was “shocked to learn of the news of the Holy Father’s death”.
He said “all Hungarians” were grateful to the pope, who called on Hungarians three times by visiting the “national shrine of Csiksomlyo” during his visit to Transylvania before attending the Eucharistic Congress in Budapest and then making an apostolic visit to Hungary.
Semjén said the Holy Father “was rightly called a man of peace”, adding that the pope supported peace “in every way”, arguing that diplomacy rather than weapons should take hold of events.
The deputy PM also said the pope and the Hungarian people had a special relationship and “a deep connection”. Having worked among Hungarian nuns in Argentina, whenever he met a Hungarian, the pontiff would always say “God bless you!” in Hungarian, Semjén noted.
Producing journalism that is worthy of the name is a costly business. For over 30 years, the publishers, editors and reporters of the Budapest Business Journal have striven to bring you business news that works, information that you can trust, that is factual, accurate and presented without fear or favor.Newspaper organizations across the globe have struggled to find a business model that allows them to continue to excel, without compromising their ability to perform. Most recently, some have experimented with the idea of involving their most important stakeholders, their readers.
We would like to offer that same opportunity to our readers. We would like to invite you to help us deliver the quality business journalism you require. Hit our Support the BBJ button and you can choose the how much and how often you send us your contributions.
