Father Pál, an elderly Franciscan friar, has been recorded having an altercation with protesters opposing Prime Minister Viktor Orbán in Budapest, Hungary. The video has garnered quite a lot of attention online, and even the Prime Minister himself has posted about it on his Facebook page, expressing support for the friar.
In his post, PM Orbán wrote: ‘Hadházy’s hate campaign has attacked 82-year-old Father Pál at the church on Ferenciek Square. Dark forces reminiscent of dark times. We stand by Father Pál, and we will defend him.’
The protest was organized by independent MP Ákos Hadházy, and took place on Tuesday, 23 September. The demonstrators came across the Friar in front of the Inner-City Church of the Franciscans at Ferenciek Square, a part of the city named after the religious order.
The video shows the protesters yelling at the Friar. One can be heard shouting: ‘We will not stop. Even if God falls down from the sky, we still won’t stop,’ while another is shouting: ‘Did Jesus teach you this? What are you gesturing for? What kind of priest are you?’
The video cuts, so it is unclear what Father Pál, the 82-year-old friar, is responding to directly. He is saying to a protester: ‘We cannot help you. We would need to have some level of intelligence on your part to understand that this does not belong here.’ With these words, the priest seems to be objecting to the protest taking place in front of his church. ‘Those who speak this way, those who cuss this way, do not belong here,’ Father Pál says next in the edited video.
One of the protesters tells him: ‘I think Jesus Christ would like this [protest],’ to which the Father replies: ‘Do not try to hide behind the figure of Jesus Christ, we are talking about people here.’ Then, the protestor tells the priest: ‘I would very much like to hide behind Jesus.’
An article on the Hungarian cable news channel Hír TV’s website describes the incident as: ‘The heart-wrenching attack that has shaken the country.’ The piece also opines: ‘What happened was not a political debate, but a violent attack that meant to intimidate an elderly man who was motivated only by his faith and the protection of his community. The protest, led by opposition figure Ákos Hadházy, revealed the dark face of religious hatred, which deeply wounded the Hungarian Christian community.’
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