It is quite rare for the head of the Catholic Church to visit a country twice in such a short period of time, so Pope Francis’ new visit to Budapest at the end of April is a special gift – said the Parliamentary State Secretary of the Ministry of the Interior at the presentation of the song “Magyar fohász 2023” created in honor of the papal visit in Budapest on Wednesday.
Bence Rétvári first emphasized the importance of Pope Francis visiting Hungary for the second time in two years after 2021.
The Secretary of State recalled a personal memory when, while visiting the Vatican, a XVI. he saw the town of Vác in the part of the historical world map depicting Hungary in the 19th century. For him, as he said, this also expressed what Hungarian Christian culture meant.
He said: in a Franciscan monastery, during conversations, the idea that a song could be used to pay tribute to the new papal visit was conceived. According to Bence Rétvári, the fact that excellent artists were able to get behind the case indicates the specialness.
The song can also convey the joy of how much Pope Francis respects the Christian faith of the Hungarians and the nation’s sustaining power, and the head of the church expressed that, he added.
It was announced at the presentation of the song that the state secretary commissioned singer-lyricist Tamás Toldi and composer Gergely Pálinkás to produce the song, and they won renowned artists for the production. Singers Ildikó Keresztes and Csaba Vastagh, who also took part in the presentation, emphasized that although the song is not the official song of the papal visit, “this is of no particular importance, because this is not a song contest”, they do not wish to compete with the official production. Both artists felt honored by the invitation, they did not think for a moment whether to accept it. They are confident, they said, that the song will inspire many.
The singer Miklós Varga, who also contributed to the song’s creation and is currently abroad, warmly recommended the song to everyone in his video message, in which the singers are accompanied by Edina Mókus Szirtes on violin and Mika Heinczinger on flute.
The song Magyar fohász 2023 will soon be heard on the radio, and the video clip will be shot on April 18, and its release is expected in the following days, Tamás Toldi told MTI.
Pope Francis April 28-30. The public media reports on all the details of his visit to Budapest.
