Danube Institute Podcast

In the third episode of our new series 'Religious Diversity in Hungary' we are joined by Abouna Youssef Khalil, a former medical doctor and priest currently serving as the head of the Coptic Orthodox Church in Hungary. In this episode, we learn about Abouna Youssef's journey from the streets of Cairo to the boulevards of Budapest, and discuss how this ancient faith has found a new home - and a new voice - right here in Hungary. We speak about issues of doctrine, discrimination, and discuss the future of this ancient faith here in Central Europe.

In the second episode of our new series, 'Religious Diversity in Hungary', we continue our conversation with Peter Morvay, the communications and international relations officer of the pentecostal-charismatic Faith Church, Hit Gyülekezete. In this episode, we asked Mr Morvay about Christian-Zionism, how and why Faith Church has a vital role in fighting against anti-Semitism in Hungary, and why is it important for Christians to support Israel and the Jewish people as Christian. In our discussion, we also talked about the international activities of the Faith Church, including their advocacy and relief work for at-risk communities in Israel, Ukraine, and countries where Christians are persecuted.

The Danube Institute's podcast series' newest episode explores the economic, diplomatic and geopolitical challenges the Visegrad Group (V4) countries face in relation to the war in Ukraine, as well as opportunities and difficulties of future cooperation within the renowned Central European format. Our guests are Péter Stepper, senior research fellow of the Institute for Foreign Policy and Trade; Anton Bendarzsevszkij, research director of the Danube Institute; and Péter Szitás, research fellow of the Danube Institute. Moderator: Tamás Orbán.

In the first episode of our new series called ‘Religious Diversity in Hungary’, we had a two-part discussion with Peter Morvay, the communications and international relations officer of the independent pentecostal-charismatic Faith Church, Hit Gyülekezete. In the 70-80s Faith Church was an underground church that had to have all of its worship meetings illegally during the Communist era. We asked Peter Morvay about how Faith Church was founded, how it was able to grow even under the Communist era when Christians were oppressed in the country and about its role as one of the largest Church in Hungary.

In this episode, Martin Koci discusses the legacy of fellow Czech philosopher Jan Patočka (died 1977). Europe seems to have entered a post-Christian era: What do Patočka’s thoughts on Greek philosophy and Christianity, from behind the Iron Curtain, have to offer?

In this episode, Professor Dimitry Kochenov discusses the law and politics of EU enlargement. Is enlargement in the interests of peace? Should Ukraine be admitted to the EU - and when? These and many other questions are touched upon - from Henry VIII's closure of monasteries to the new sanctions imposed on Russia.

In the fifth episode of Reflections from Budapest, we discussed the situation of Christians and churches in Poland with Jerzy Kwaśniewski, President of the Board and co-founder of Ordo Iuris Institute, Chairman of the Ordo Iuris Foundation Council. Even though around 90% of Polish society is Catholic, many young Poles started to turn against the institutional church. We asked him how he sees this phenomenon in Poland and how the government reacted to the growing number of attacks on churches.

We asked Juliana Taimoorazy, founder and president of the Iraqi Christian Relief Council and 2021 Nobel Peace Prize nominee about how she escaped from Iran to the US and what it was like to grow up in Iran as a Christian. She told us about how she was called to start her work to help persecuted Christians in Iraq and why she believes it’s crucial more than ever for more countries to follow the examples of Hungary and Poland to stand up and help Iraqi Christians in need.

We asked Father Rev. Prof. Piotr Roszak and Dr Przemysław Komorowski from the Laboratory of Religious Freedom about the situation of the Catholic  Church in Poland. According to a report made by the Laboratory of  Religious Freedom, in 2020, there were 280 cases of violations of the right to religious freedom throughout Poland. In 2021 the number of these attacks was over 150. The question may arise: how is it possible that there are violations against Christians in a country where,  according to statistical data, 87 percent of the population is Roman Catholic?

The Russian war in Ukraine all of a sudden completely changed the defence situation in Europe, imposing new threats and challenges on the European security system. While some of the countries replanned their military strategy and increased their military spending, others gave up their neutrality, and looked for powerful allies. In the next episode of The Matter of Perspective, the geopolitical podcast of the Danube Institute, we were discussing the situation of the defence sphere in Central Europe, together with Attila Demkó, Head of the Centre for Geopolitics at Matthias Corvinus Collegium, and Tamás Csiki Varga, Senior Research Fellow at the Institute for Strategic and Defence Studies at the University of Public Service. The podcast was moderated by Anton Bendarzsevszkij, Director of Research at Danube Institute.