Békéscsaba Great Lutheran Church re-consecrated

 

The Great Lutheran Church in the southeastern city of Békéscsaba, the largest Lutheran church in central and eastern Europe, was re-consecrated on Saturday.

The main altar of the Békéscsaba Great Lutheran Church Photo: MTI/Tibor Rosta

The main altar of the Békéscsaba Great Lutheran Church
Photo: MTI/Tibor Rosta

Bishop Péter Kondor conducted the ceremony, which Deputy Prime Minister Zsolt Semjén also attended.

 

In his address, Semjén said the church was a symbolic building of the Slovak ethnic minority which settled in the area after the collapse of the Ottoman Empire 300 years ago. Historical minorities are as integral to the Hungarian nation as Hungarian minorities outside the borders, “and viewed as creators of the state and the nation”, Semjén said.

 

Their values are unique to them but also enrich the Hungarian and Slovak nations both, he added.

 

The 3,500-seat church was revamped from a 900 million forint (EUR 2.7m) government grant, which also covered the reconstruction of a smaller church and a youth centre.