The Hungarian Catholic Church in the Current Migration Crisis

Abstract

Due to the Balkan route and the geographical position of Hungary, the country became one of the most important stops of the current European migration crisis. Those asylum seekers who entered the EU in Greece continued their way via Macedonia, Serbia and Hungary towards Western Europe. The Hungarian Parliament amended certain penal and constitutional acts and the government completed the construction of a border fence in September 2015. These measures were highly criticized by some European politicians. Sometimes, even the Hungarian Catholic Church and its leaders were chastised for not doing enough for the migrants.
    In this paper I briefly present the policies of the Hungarian Catholic Church towards the migrants past and present. I will show the constraints which the church had to take into consideration and finally I will refute claims that the Hungarian Catholic Church did not do enough to help the migrants by examples of humanitarian assistance provided by the church and other ecclesiastical organizations.