On Sunday, 21 September, at 7pm, simultaneously with the memorial services in Arizona, we bid farewell to the 31-year-old Charlie Kirk—a Christian conservative activist and father of two, murdered 11 days earlier—at a solemn memorial organized by the Saint Stephen Institute. The intimate gathering took place at a symbolic location, in front of the steps of Saint Stephen’s Basilica main entrance in Budapest, Hungary, with hundreds of people also joining after the evening Mass. The gathering featured moving speeches, touching musical accompaniment, shared prayers, and joint candle lighting.
In her welcoming address, Director of the organizing institute Zsuzsa Máthé placed Charlie Kirk’s faith at the heart of her speech and that of the whole event. She emphasized that for the deceased, the revelation inscribed on the pediment of Saint Stephen’s Basilica—‘Jesus Christ is the way, the truth, and the life’—was a certainty. Charlie walked a narrow path, always directed toward Him and pointing the way for others; a path filled with joy and success but also sacrifice and risk.
She underlined that he represented the truth of His teachings firmly and wisely, yet always with a smiling love for his fellow citizens—even in places where those around him thought very differently about life, death, love, or the laws of creation. She said Charlie ‘dedicated his life to being a missionary in a time shaken and confused in its faith, in the hope of the eternal life promised to us.’ She concluded that his life must be an example and encouragement to us as well—even if we have weaker faith and less rhetorical talent—to bear witness to Jesus Christ in the hope of grace.
Imre Bedő, founder of the Men’s Club, quoted the Gospel by John, speaking of the task of the ‘children of light in the world of darkness’. Reflecting on the day’s Gospel reading (‘No servant can serve two masters’), he pointed out that many are deceived by false prophets who ‘offer salvation in the form of alternative fashionable lifestyles, encouraging people to reject solid values and enjoy material and sensual pleasures.’
In contrast, Charlie Kirk was a ‘light’ that many would have hidden, but whom God chose and placed on the stand to guide many of us. ‘We watched this lamp on social media, cheered, rejoiced, and longed for the light to shine this far,’ confessed the speaker, adding: the Word makes it clear that as followers of Jesus, we ourselves are the light of the world—we, who live these values, convey them, and pass them on; therefore, we should take up the torch, to become lights ourselves, to ‘multiply the light of Charlie’s lamp’, so that together we can break the reign of darkness.
As a Christian wife, mother, and freelance journalist who recently returned from the U.S.—and who thus knows Charlie Kirk’s work, the environment in which he was executed, and the country plagued by a wave of brutal (mass) murders targeting youth and even children—I shared my heavy feelings. I conveyed the reflections of university professor Petra Aczél, who spoke on Kossuth Radio’s Daily Commentary program on 12 September, articulating with her usual clarity and precision a broader message of Charlie Kirk’s death. She recalled that the 31-year-old American right-wing activist was murdered at a public event where he was debating with young people about values, current events, worldviews, and responsibility—sending the chilling message that ‘such violence can occur today in the most advanced, richest, and supposedly freest country in the world.’
‘In an influencer culture, where anyone can try to make it, he truly was someone’
She stressed that Kirk devoted his entire life from his youth to debate, reasoning, and reaching out to young people. ‘In an influencer culture, where anyone can try to make it, he truly was someone. A genuine, strong voice, credible and now impossible to silence…He led the youth organization Turning Point, spoke and worked to expose discrimination against conservatives, and defended the importance of open debate. He spared no energy.’ She emphasized that he wasn’t flawless and was not a prophet, but he was authentic, consistent, and brave. His death shows that ignorance and hatred can be fatal—yet his life teaches and obliges us to take our faith seriously, to give courageous testimony, and to stand publicly for our values, even in hostile environments.
Referring to the professor’s words and to the public call of Charlie Kirk’s widow, I urged those present not to let our mourning and his rich and courageous legacy be forgotten. We must carry the torch forward not only with remembrance, but also with active deeds: dare to profess our faith, to bear witness, to debate if needed, to join Christian communities, or even set up new ones. This is how we can give meaning to this seemingly meaningless death, and can protect our own Hungarian activists and future generations from similar tragedies.
Director General of the National Heritage Institute Gábor Móczár also greeted the participants in English, stressing that Charlie Kirk’s is not merely an individual fate, but the shared heritage of the Christian conservative community—a source of strength and a true turning point. He highlighted: ‘As history rushes past us, do we recognize when Providence intervenes “against all odds”?’ He encouraged a courageous profession of faith, noting that Charlie Kirk was a committed pro-life defender of the unborn, who, in his open dialogues and university forums, sought with ‘angelic patience yet firm consistency to convince young people of the sanctity and protection of human life from conception and the importance of embracing children.’
Director of CitizenGo Béla Teleki gave a personal, yet combative testimony, declaring Charlie Kirk his role model, because ‘he was faithful to his faith, virtuous in life, and unyielding in defending family values.’ He remembered Charlie as a martyr, a witness to the truth.
Referring to the hateful reactions, he warned that in 2025, standing up for normality is provocative, because ‘speaking the truth is always a scandal in a world of lies.’ He reminded that the CitizenGo community knows this reality, as some colleagues have been harassed by authorities, dragged into court, and he himself, along with five others, was unlawfully arrested during the ‘Christian-humiliating’ Paris Olympics. He added: ‘As believers in Christ, we know persecution is no shame, death is no defeat, and we must believe that Charlie Kirk didn’t die in vain.’
He stressed that thousands of young people worldwide are speaking up, continuing Charlie’s mission of engaging students in dialogue—meaning that his work did not end with his death, but gained new momentum and rose to a new level. Teleki concluded that Hungary also needs such courageous witnesses, that we must raise our voices against anti-Christian and unnatural ideologies, continuing Charlie Kirk’s fight for the soul of youth and the purification of public life, and ‘in this fight the truly decisive moment has now arrived.’ He proposed that the Hungarian Parliament should also commemorate Charlie Kirk’s life and sacrifice in a worthy manner.
‘In 2025, standing up for normality is provocative’
Finally, two Piarist students, Julianna Ókovács and Bendegúz Kotsis, gave their personal farewell. With maturity and eloquence, they shared personal stories and reflections on what Charlie Kirk’s short but meaningful life and tragic death meant to them: that Christian faith must be embraced boldly, and though this endeavor is not without risk, one must not fear to face the challenges of the world, even if not all friends may understand or follow.
Throughout the evening, the Catholic Community of the Budapest University of Technology provided music, lending the memorial an even more solemn atmosphere and allowing for deeper prayerful unity. At the end, after the communal recitation of the Lord’s Prayer, participants lit their candles and placed them before Charlie Kirk’s photograph—symbolically declaring that they would carry forward his light.
Just as the simultaneous, historically significant Arizona memorial service—breaking ‘memorial records’, deeply personal, full of astonishingly honest testimonies, and regarded by some as the greatest evangelizing event of all times—our gathering before the Basilica wasn’t only collective mourning, but also a shared Christian confession of faith, a mutual strengthening for the future. It was a public recognition that Charlie Kirk’s work and death were not in vain, but it calls us to stand boldly for our faith, debate it, and not keep it private and hidden, but profess it openly, build community, and shine as a great shared light in this currently confused dark world. And the fact that 11 days after the tragedy, Erika Kirk forgave her husband’s murderer before the eyes of the world—more than a hundred million people followed the memorial services in real time—reminds us that even in the heat of debating, we must not forget: as Christians, our greatest strengths are love and forgiveness.
The following video offers a glimpse into the commemoration held in front of Saint Stephen’s Basilica, as residents of Budapest reflect on the death of Charlie Kirk:
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