The popular X account Based Hungary, a user with 56,000 followers, has recently posted about church renovations in Hungary. In a post published on Sunday, 2 November, they wrote:
‘A NEW Record of Churches Renovated in Hungary. Officially 4,000 Church [sic!] have been Renovated and Built. Christianity and Tradition’s Revival is Happening.’
The 4,000 figure cited above comes from a statement by Miklós Soltész, State Secretary for Churches, Minorities and Civil Affairs in the Office of the Prime Minister of Hungary. He spoke at a newly renovated Reformed church in Szerencs, Hungary, on another Sunday, 11 October.
However, it is important to note that, according to his statement, the Hungarian government had revamped 4,000 churches and built an additional 200 new churches over an unspecified period in all parts of the Carpathian Basin where a significant number of ethnic Hungarians live, not just within Hungary. Given that the timeframe is not specified, it is hard to verify the X user’s claim that it is a ‘record’ number as well.
As for Secretary Soltész’s further statements on the matter, he described the renovation of Catholic, Reformed, Roman Catholic, Greek Catholic, Lutheran, and other denominational buildings as a tremendous achievement; but then added that the most important question is whether they will ‘have “fire” in them’ and whether the churches will be ‘filled with life’. He also emphasized that their task in government is to help every religious community that wants to thrive and can create value—whether in terms of buildings or spirituality—that serves and strengthens the country.
Based Hungary’s X post has received 775 likes, 156 retweets, and 17 comments thus far. The image the user chose to accompany his post with is that of the Ják Abbey Church, in Ják, Vas County, in the Western part of Hungary. It is one of the more recently renovated shrines, with its restoration project completed in April 2024.
The comments under the post have been mostly positive, with one user, for example, writing ‘Please Lord, Europe needs Jesus again’, while another user commented ‘Long live Hungary and its beautiful traditions’.
State-sponsored church renovations are still ongoing in Hungary. For instance, the project for the neogothic Heart of Jesus church in Kőszeg, Hungary started all the way back in 2018 and is expected to finish next year, while the renovation of the Evangelical Church in Sopron, Hungary just started this year, in April. The restoration of the Reformed church in Solymár earned its architect a nomination for the 2025 Media Architecture Awards.
The nationwide church renovation programme was launched by the Hungarian government in 2021.
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