Hungarian public media commemorates Pope Francis, his funeral will be national day of mourning
Hungary’s public media is commemorating Pope Francis, who passed away at the age of 88, with memorial broadcasts today, MTVA said in a statement.
On Monday, Duna and Duna World will air a programme on Pope Francis’ meetings with Hungarians, alongside a studio programme and a documentary, followed by a broadcast on Duna of “Francis, the People’s Pope”, a biographical film.
Duna World will air a documentary on key messages of the 52nd International Eucharistic Congress in Budapest.
The M5 channel will commemorate the pontiff in its history programme, followed by a documentary titled “Our Pope”. A film on the life of Saint Peter will follow.
M2 Petofi TV will broadcast Liszt’s Requiem from 8pm, performed by the Saint Ephraim Male Choir, one of Hungary’s most popular vocal ensembles.
Kossuth Radio will carry Pope Francis’s thoughts on Monday, as well as a memorial programme on the most important moments of the pontiff’s life and papacy.
Pope Francis’ funeral will be broadcast by the M1 and Duna channels as well as Kossuth Radio.
Deputy Prime Minister: Day of Pope Francis’s funeral will be national day of mourning in Hungary
The government intends to declare the day of Pope Francis’s funeral a national day of mourning, Deputy Prime Minister Zsolt Semjén announced on Monday.
The day of mourning will “express the nation’s gratitude for the Holy Father and the nation’s grief”, he said on the official government website kormany.hu.
Semjén, who also leads the co-ruling Christian Democrats, said he was “shocked to learn of the news of the Holy Father’s death”.
He said “all Hungarians” were grateful to the pope, who called on Hungarians three times by visiting the “national shrine of Csíksomlyó” during his visit to Transylvania before attending the Eucharistic Congress in Budapest and then making an apostolic visit to Hungary.
Semjén said the Holy Father “was rightly called a man of peace”, adding that the pope supported peace “in every way”, arguing that diplomacy rather than weapons should take hold of events.
The deputy PM also said the pope and the Hungarian people had a special relationship and “a deep connection”.
Having worked among Hungarian nuns in Argentina, whenever he met a Hungarian, the pontiff would always say “God bless you!” in Hungarian, Semjén noted.
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